Variety reports that Warner Bros. will transform Katsuhiro Otomo’s influential cyberpunk manga Akira into two live-action films.
Gary Whitta, who wrote the Death Jr. comic books, will pen the screenplay. Leonardo DiCaprio will produce via Appian Way. Ruairi Robinson (The Silent City) is set to direct.
Warner Bros. previously held the rights but let them lapse, leading to a new seven-figure deal with publisher Kodansha.
Otomo’s six-volume manga, set in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo, was adapted in 1988 as a pioneering anime film.
February 20th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
huh. i remember the guy who did the first blade was set to work on this for a while. then i think alex proyas was also involved at one time.
i got one problem with this though, them changing the names. normally i wouldn’t care but some of the most memorable scenes was when kanata and tetsuo were just screaming each others names out during the fight scenes. TETSUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUO!!! ahhh, memories. i feel like rewatching this now.
February 20th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
“COREYYYYYYYYY!”
“TYLERRRRRRR!”
“TI-FANNNYYYYYYY!”
“New Manhattan” has to be the best part, though.
//\Oo/\\
February 20th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Man, this movie would suck.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:31 am
No.
No.
NO NO NO NO NO.
FFFFUCK NO.
February 21st, 2008 at 3:13 am
I thought James Cameron was working on Akira. No?
February 21st, 2008 at 11:00 am
Um…Akira is already an awesome movie. Why mess it up with a live-action duology?
February 21st, 2008 at 11:02 am
James Cameron is, or was working on another Anime/Manga, Battle Angel Alita.
February 21st, 2008 at 11:13 am
My money is this dies off again or ends up in development hell. I’d actually prefer a TV miniseries format to flesh out the story a bit more (the comic is pretty deep). But of course I’d prefer the show on HBO or something.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Watchmen: The Movie aside (check out the pic of Rorscarch torching a cop on the website), “Akira” is too deep, too foreign to adapt as a live-action film. Leave it alone, Warner Bros.
February 21st, 2008 at 6:03 pm
Hmm…this could be a good idea…
…or a bad idea…
February 21st, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Horrible idea.
Classic anime, and that’s why it should be left alone. I guarantee there’s no way a live-action show could do anything but pale compared to the supreme excellence that is one of the most revered anime classics ever.
If it weren’t so nearly perfect, then ok, try to improve it and take a crack at it. They’re only going to make themselves look like failures with a live-action movie. I just don’t see short of a Terminator 2-type of extravaganza that it could possibly not suck.
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:44 am
This is a great idea and I hope they change whatever they feel to suit the story they now want to tell.
TWELFTH POST!
February 22nd, 2008 at 4:52 pm
To anyone who is only familiar with the cartoon… do yourself a favor and invest in the 6 volume manga that the cartoon is loosely pulled from. If you’ve only seen the cartoon, you’ve missed a HUGE part of the story.
March 4th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
let me guess, american solders and hulk hogan gonna bomb down akira and kill all commus.. oh wait… its about akira *laughs*
to read they even wanna rape gunnm /battle angel alita gives me really the creeps.
lets scream it all together
PEDRO NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
March 24th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Well, it sounds like this version will be based off the manga, making the movie entirely different. I am excited to see it ^^!!!