Looks like the live-action Akira movie might be getting a director soon. It’s been reported that Warner Bros. is in talks with Thor: Ragnarok director, Taika Waititi to helm the live-action version of the iconic anime.
This isn’t the first director that Warner Bros. has approached though. According to a Tracking Board report, Warner Bros had also approached Jordan Peele who did Get Out and also best known as one-half of the comedy duo Key and Peele, as Daniel Espinosa who did Life, Lights Out’s, David F. Sandberg and even Fast and Furious’ Justin Lin, though this last one was not really confirmed.
So while the talks with Waititi seems to be ongoing, it’s still far from confirmed that he’ll end up helming the upcoming anime live-adaptation. That is if the project will even make it into the production phase.
The Akira Hollywood live-action adaptation has been in development hell for quite a while now. It was first greenlit back in 2011 with Unknown, Orphan and House of Wax‘s director Jaume Collett-Serra at the helm.
However, before filming could even start, it was reported by the Hollywood Reporter that production had been shut down in January 2012 as it seems Warner wanted to revise the script so it would be less costly. The project has been limbo since then.
Hopefully this time, there won’t be any more cancellations and we will eventually see the live-action Akira move forward.
According to Deadline, the film takes place in a rebuilt New Manhattan where a leader of a biker gang saves his friend from a medical experiment. The producer for the movie will be Mad Chance’s Andrew Lazar alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson’s Appian Way Productions.
The Akira live-adaptation will also not just be a single movie but will span two films as it attempts to adapt Katsuhiro Otomo’s original three-volume manga.
If the movie finally does head into production and distribution, let’s hope they do a good job out of it. To date, Hollywood has not had a good track record with anime adaptations and even the recent Ghost in the Shell live-action just didn’t live up to par. We seriously don’t need another classic and iconic anime to go down the drain with its live-action adaptation.
*Taiki Waititi Image source: Wikipedia
