Sam Nivola and Nico Parker Join Takashi Yamazaki's Grandgear

Sam Nivola and Nico Parker are set to join the cast of Grandgear, an original film from Takashi Yamazaki, the director of Godzilla Minus One. Deadline reported the casting on 26 October 2026. Paul Giamatti is in talks to join them.

The film is Yamazaki's first major studio project. He is directing from a screenplay he wrote himself, so the story is not based on existing material such as a comic, novel or earlier film. Filming is expected to start in 2027.

J.J. Abrams is producing through his company Bad Robot, and Glen Zipper is also producing. Abrams's company has a long track record on large-scale studio films, and its name on the project gives the production a second established backer alongside the director.

Sony Pictures won the project after a bidding war, according to a Deadline report from November 2024. That earlier report described several studios competing for the film before Sony secured it. Yamazaki's work on Godzilla Minus One was a large part of the interest.

Casting took a careful route. According to Deadline, the team ran a thorough search before settling on Nivola and Parker, and the final choices came after chemistry tests. A chemistry test is a short audition in which actors read or perform scenes together, so the filmmakers can see how the two work on screen as a pair.

For a general audience, the sequence is worth noticing. A film is often cast long before shooting begins, and a production can spend months on auditions and screen tests before anyone steps in front of a camera. Here, the director, producers, studio and lead performers are all named, while the start of filming remains a year or more away.

Giamatti's status is still open. He is in talks, which means the discussions are under way but no deal has been signed or announced as complete. Any change to that position will be reported as it happens.