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If you’re one of those people who hates the idea of Hollywood’s live-action white-washing of Katsuhiro Ohtomo’s “Akria”, then this is definitely good news to you. THR reports that Warner Bros. has, once again, put a halt to their production of “Akira”, which is currently set to be directed by Jaume Collet-Serra.
So, first of all, Kaneda’s gotten himself a job. Yes, a job. And not just a job, the kid is all grown up and owning property now. And not just any property, but a business. Sheesh. One day he’s a snot-nosed gangbanger, and the next day he’s running a joint. What’s this world coming to? The world of Warner Bros.’ live-action “Akira”, that’s what.
If, for some reason, you were still holding out hope that at least one major character in Warner Bros.’ upcoming “Akira” will maintain their Japanese roots, you can probably stop holding your breath now, because it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen, especially now that Warner Bros. is said to be in talks with “Twilight” star Kristen Stewart (who is probably one of the most pale girl I’ve ever seen in the movies) to join the cast, playing the role of Kei, the film’s psychic medium/rebel.
Yikes. It looks like a Hollywood live-action version of “Akira” will happen after all. Who would have thunk it? After lots of starts and stops and more starts and stops, the film is finally gearing up for production with a director and now, star.
Sorry, haters of the American “Akira” — it ain’t dead yet. In fact, it’s very much alive, with Variety reporting that Warner Bros. has officially given the greenlight to the movie, with an early 2012 start date on the horizon.
Noo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Or is that, Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I guess it’s up to you and how you’re looking at Warner Bros. determination to make an “Akira” live-action with, from the looks of it, an all-Caucasian cast.
Got issues with Warner Bros.’ upcoming big-screen live-action take on “Akira”? Well, this news will either have you jumping for joy or running to find the first closet to hide in and scream out your lungs.
For those who didn’t think an “Akira” live-action Hollywood-backed movie would ever come to pass, join the club. I didn’t think it would actually happen, too, but according to this Deadline article, it’s not only actually, possibly happening, but Warner Bros. is already looking at an August start date. Now all they have to do is cast it.
He most definitely is, according to JustJared. It’s not like I visit JustJared a lot or anything, so I don’t know how they do with breaking movie news. Usually they just post celebrity pictures, don’t they?
Anyways, here’s the word from JJ:
Oh, Akira, will we ever see you on the big-screen? I honestly don’t know, because this has the makings of a very expensive live-action movie. Expensive, expansive, and complex as hell to translate to an audience that have grown up on “Two and a Half Men”.
Akira lives! Again! Ahem. According to NYMag’s Vulture blog, the brothers Hughes (that would be Allen and Albert, FYI) are currently in negotiations with Warner Bros. to helm the studio’s sure-to-be expensive and epic live-action adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo’s seminal manga/anime “Akira”, which recently got a major boost when Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way came onboard as producers. The Hughes brothers, of course, recently turned in the post-apocalyptic “Book of Eli” for the studio, so they’re no stranger to apocalyptic action.
A live action “Akira” movie has been floating around in the hopes of studio execs for some time now with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way production company putting it together for Warner. It was originally supposedly fast tracked for a big budget release this summer. Since we just said goodbye to summer I’m thinking there was a hitch.
Yes, according to the guys over at horror site Bloody-Disgusting (yeah, I don’t know what a horror site is doing reporting on a sci-fi movie, too, but I digress), who were actually the first one to break the story of the movie’s development, originally under the direction of producer Leonardo DiCaprio, over a year and a half again. Now according to BD, the live-action adaptation of the popular manga/anime is “dead as a doornail”, which is pretty damn dead.
I await the Leonardo DiCaprio-produced live-action version of “Akira” with equal bated breath and horror. A part of me is dying to see the anime (I’ve never read the manga) be translated into live-action, with living, breathing people and millions of Hollywood dollars thrown at the screen. Then again, another part of me is terrified of what a “Hollywood version” of “Akira” will look like. Well someone’s finally read a script for the live-action “Akira”, and his judgment seems to be a little mixed: it gives me comfort that the reviewer says the script is very faithful to the original source material, but he also goes to great lengths to mention that there’s nothing new here, no addition to the material. Is that good or bad? You decide.
