Paul Giamatti in Talks to Join Godzilla Director's Giant-Robot Film 'Grandgear'
Paul Giamatti is in talks to join Sam Nivola and Nico Parker in Grandgear, the giant-robot film from Godzilla Minus One director Takashi Yamazaki, Deadline reported on 27 October.
A first step into English-language film
Grandgear will be Yamazaki's first English-language feature, according to Deadline, with the director working from an original screenplay he wrote himself. Sony Pictures is behind the project, and J.J. Abrams is producing through Bad Robot alongside Glen Zipper, reports said.
Nivola and Parker are set to play the film's two most prominent roles, Deadline reported. The search for those parts was thorough, Gizmodo reported, and a round of chemistry tests led Yamazaki to the pair. Giamatti, meanwhile, was the filmmakers' top choice for his role, and remains in talks to join them. No roles have been announced, and plot details remain under wraps.
What audiences have glimpsed so far
The clearest hint of the film's scale came earlier this year, when footage shown at CinemaCon featured giant mechs fighting in a city, filmed from the ground, Bloody Disgusting reported. The film has been widely described as a giant-mech movie, though Sony has released no official logline.
The casting arrives just before Yamazaki returns to cinemas with Godzilla Minus Zero, the follow-up to Godzilla Minus One, which opens in Japan on 3 November and in North American cinemas on 6 November, Fiction Horizon reported. Godzilla Minus One became a global hit and won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.
Three very different paths to the same film
Nivola broke out in the most recent season of The White Lotus, Gizmodo reported, and Grandgear would be his biggest film role to date. Parker played Astrid in the live-action How to Train Your Dragon and appeared in the first season of The Last of Us, according to reports.
Giamatti, an Academy Award nominee, is next due on screen in Jesse Eisenberg's The Debut alongside Julianne Moore, Polygon reported. Reports put Grandgear's release in early 2028, with production expected to begin in 2027.
Sources: Polygon, 27 October 2026; Gizmodo, 27 October 2026; Bloody Disgusting, 27 October 2026; Fiction Horizon, 27 October 2026.