Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe arrives in US theaters on May 15 after a record-breaking Japan run that surpassed 2.3 billion yen.
Mobile Suit Gundam Hathaway: The Sorcery of Nymph Circe opens in US theaters on May 15, 2026, with early screenings beginning May 14. The second film in the Hathaway trilogy brings the Universal Century saga to North American audiences after a dominant theatrical run in Japan.
The film opened at number one in Japan on January 30 and went on to earn over 2.3 billion yen approximately $14.6 million surpassing the first Hathaway film's lifetime total of 2.23 billion yen. Its opening weekend alone generated 849 million yen across 511,500 ticket sales, making it the fourth highest-grossing Gundam theatrical release of all time.
The performance validated Bandai Namco Filmworks' decision to give Hathaway's Flash a premium theatrical treatment rather than the OVA format that characterized earlier Universal Century entries. The first film, released in 2021, had already proven the commercial viability of the approach, but The Sorcery of Nymph Circe's ability to surpass it suggests the franchise's theatrical audience is still growing.
Set in Universal Century 0105, twelve years after Char's Rebellion, the Hathaway trilogy adapts Yoshiyuki Tomino's 1989 novel series. Hathaway Noa, son of legendary Federation officer Bright Noa, secretly leads the anti-Federation insurgent group MAFTY while grappling with the legacy of his father's generation and his own unresolved feelings.
The Sorcery of Nymph Circe deepens the political and emotional tension established in the first film, as Hathaway navigates his double life while Federation officer Kenneth Sleg closes in on MAFTY's operations. The mysterious Gigi Andalucia continues to complicate both men's trajectories, and the film's climactic mobile suit battles between the Xi Gundam and the Penelope push the franchise's animation quality to new heights.
Bandai Namco Filmworks is distributing the US release. Participating theater locations will offer attendees a chance to receive one of three exclusive collectible cards featuring newly designed mobile suits from the film, including the Xi Gundam and the RX-104FF Penelope.
The run time is one hour and 55 minutes. The film screens in Japanese with English subtitles at most locations.
The US theatrical release continues Bandai Namco's aggressive international strategy for the Gundam franchise. Between the Hathaway films' theatrical distribution, the global success of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury on streaming platforms, and the upcoming Gundam GQuuuuuuX television series, the franchise is reaching Western audiences at a scale it has not achieved since the early 2000s Toonami era.
For viewers new to the Universal Century timeline, the first Hathaway film is available on Netflix. The Sorcery of Nymph Circe is best appreciated with context from that entry, though the film's political drama and mecha action stand on their own as a theatrical experience.
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