Jeff Sneider of Variety has the inside scope on the latest news about an Akira live-action movie. With the parting of ways between Warner Bros. and Directors Ruairi Robinson and Albert Hughes, the studio giant has turned to a new face:
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If Warner Bros. is really serious about this "Akira" remake, at least they're turning to a guy who's proven he can do it on time and on budget: Jaume Collet-Serra, the Spanish director who turned "Orphan" and "Unknown" into profitable surprises for the studio, is in early talks to direct the live-action version of the anime cult classic, Variety's Jeff Sneider exclusively reports. Ruairi Robinson and Albert Hughes were previously attached to direct the adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo’s graphic novel, but Hughes exited the project amicably in May as a result of creative differences. Steve Kloves, WB’s go-to scribe for its “Harry Potter” franchise, wrote the latest draft. Insiders tell Variety that the pic is being re-invisioned as a $90 million tentpole. Otomo, who wrote and directed the popular 1988 Japanese anime pic of the same name, will exec produce. Collet-Serra has a reputation for delivering successful films on time and on budget, and his track record at the box office has been improving with each try: His feature directorial debut “House of Wax” took in $68 million worldwide in 2005, while 2009’s surprise hit “Orphan” grossed more than $76 million worldwide. Earlier this year, Liam Neeson's “Unknown” opened in the top spot and has grossed over $130 million worldwide on a reported production budget of only $30 million.
Appian Way's Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran are producing with
Mad Chance's Andrew Lazar. Otomo, who wrote and directed the popular 1988 Japanese anime pic of the same name, will exec produce
"Akira."
Okay, I no many people will say that
Akira should be left alone. But why? Akira is one of, if not "THE" definitive example of anime perfection. However, this isn't necessarily grounds for not pursuing a live-action movie.
Batman: Year One is considered by many to be the definitive
Dark Knight story and soon we'll be viewing that story in all of it's animated glory. So does this mean that we should never have a live-action
Batman:Year One movie? Same can be said for
Justice League:New Frontier.
What I'm getting at here is why the reverence surrounding Japanese anime and manga but not American comics and animated features? And before anyone mentions
Dragon Ball, Chun-Li, etc. look at the talent assembling here. Jaume Collet-Serra is a brilliant director and if you haven't seen
Orphan and
Unknown then you're missing out. Penning this film is the same scribe who wrote the
Harry Potter films and regardless of whether you care for them, only a writer of immense talent would be able to condense those books and produce the smash hits that continuously shatter box-office records. Lastly, Katsuhiro Otomo who wrote the Manga and directed the film is being brought in as an
Executive Producer. Without this collection of talent, I would most likely be dreading this movie just as much as the next guy but from what I gather I think this will indeed be Warner Bros. next tentpole.
Serra was last seen directing Liam Neeson in Unknown.
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Sound off in the usual spot and let me know whether you agree or why you don't!
Akira is a 1988 Japanese animated cyberpunk science fiction film. It was written and directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, who based it on his manga of the same name. The film is set in a futuristic and post-war city, Neo-Tokyo, in 2019. The film's plot focuses on Shotaro Kaneda, a biker gang member, as he tries to stop Tetsuo Shima from releasing Akira. While most of the character designs and basic settings were adapted from the original 2182-page manga epic, the restructured plot of the movie differs considerably from the print version, pruning much of the last half of the manga. The film became a hugely popular cult film and is widely considered to be a landmark in Japanese animation and film making in general.
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