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by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub Posted:September 7th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Early last year, Variety reported Warner Bros. was hard at work trying to adapt the ridiculously popular anime “Akira” into two live-action feature films. Rumors were everywhere that Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon Levitt were going to star in the picture and it seemed like any moment we were going to read about production commencing.
It’s now September 2009 and…nothing. The “Akira” movie’s gone quiet and when that happens, it usually means a project is troubled or it’s in development hell. But thanks to a trusted source, I’ve got an update that should make fans anxious to see a big-screen “Akira” happy. You don’t need to expand you psychic field to find out what I know. Just hit the jump.
According to my source, screenwriters Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, guys whose work I like, are about to turn in their version of an “Akira” movie and the reason why the project has been so quiet is they’ve been hard at work trying to get the script right.
For those that aren’t familiar with their work, they wrote the amazing adaptation of “Children of Men” and they’re also credited with “Iron Man” (although a lot of that movie was written on the set). But my point still stands that I like their work and I’m happy they’re taking a crack at it.
Also, while I couldn’t get a lot of info about what changes are being made from the anime to make the feature film work, I did confirm the story is still set in post-apocalyptic Manhattan in the near future. I also confirmed the famous motorcycle is definitely a part of the film, but that bit of info shouldn’t surprise anyone.
From what I could gather, the movie is still a priority for the studio, and if the script meets with approval from key people, the movie could go into production in 2010 with a release date in 2011. Also, this isn’t going to be some mid-range budget movie. If the film goes into production, it’s going to be one of those BIG event movies.
Of course, everything I just wrote is based on a lot of factors, but that’s where the project currently stands. Anyone hoping for an “Akira” live-action movie should cross their fingers that Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby’s screenplay is great and everyone involved gets excited. I’ll have more on this story as I hear it.
Not set in Neo Tokyo? =EPIC FAIL
^ guess what tony stark was’nt the exact age tobey was a 29 year old playing a teenager kingpin was black
adaptation is the key word
Wow. So… Americans? Will there be a token Japanese or at least Asian character or two? The art style of Katsuhiro Otomo is realistic enough in Manga and films that the characters look Japanese, unlike so many other Anime styles. Just seems a major bummer to ethnically homogenize the cast by placing it in… Manhattan. I guess there’s not enough movies made in NYC. :rolleyes:
Plus… are we going to be subjected to some imagery of downtown Manhattan being blasted (again) in the opening sequence?
Anyway, I do wish the writers the best and there’s always hope. I just thought it would be cool to see something a little different. The exotic characters and locale are part of the draw to Akira, after all. What did I know of Japanese street punks and underground resistance fighters, and religious zealots and politics? Very little. Take all that stuff and put it in NYC and it starts feeling like we’ve seen it all before.
Now I’m just despairing again.
Manhattan? Ethnically homogenous? Compared to TOKYO?! What are you smoking?
They could set it in Manhattan and the lead could still be Asian and it would work. What, with Manhattan being one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the world.
Setting it in Manhattan means the lead will NEVER be Asian. It means Asians will be lucky to get a token character who gets killed off early.
The last attempt to bring this to the screen mentioned a ‘Neo-Manhatten’. A New York rebuilt with Japanese money. That works. Gives you English speaking language but with a Japanese flavor. I would love to see a movie of this. But don’t just have this take place in New York!
Neo-manhattan - how creative - not. A big part of the movie is that it is both based on an anime, and that anime is set in a futuristic Japan. It would’ve been more interesting to see a culturally mixed Tokyo (with a mixed eastern and western cast in Neo-Tokyo) from both a story perspective, art perspective but also a background perspective. NYC is always a backdrop and it kinda sucks.
that’s exactly what I was thinking…and if the movie execs are worried that placing it in a foreign country would hurt profits they can just take a look at “District 9″ which, not only had no stars, but was placed in fucking South Africa…sheesh, can people at least attempt to push the envelope? What happened to the Hollywood I grew up with? (probably all in my imagination…)
Twice this article mentions people who looking forward to a live action version of Akira being made. Who in the world are these people?
Let’s hear from them. Why would you want to see this film remade as a live action film?
A live action film sounds like a very very bad idea.
No one I know thinks it could be anything but a disaster.
Don’t worry Aaron I’m sure there will be a token Asian girlfriends paired with the white male leads. That’s the Hollywood norm.
Children of men sucked. Get your own idea Hollywood, quit ruing classic entertainment. I don`t need to see Brad Pitt desecrating something I actually like.
Children of Men sucked? On what planet? The pacing and tone were perfect. The imagery was haunting. The music was moving. Some… SOME… of the acting left something to be desired, but no movie is without flaw.
And where the hell does Brad Pitt come into this?
I don’t see why they can’t find authentic asian actors to portray the characters (I think Leo Dicaprio is starring WTF)or scrape up the money to film in Tokyo which is a much more lively city than New York by far and has an energy that not even New york can emulate. (if you’ve never been you don’t know what you’re missing)
The story originated in Japan and its such an American trait to take anything great that wasn’t contrived on American soil and brand it as their own. I hate that. They see what it did to Dragonball, Streetfighter, etc.
this movie should not be made. i was happy when i heard that it was canned i’m hoping that’s still true). the fact that anyone who’s familiar with Akira would think this is a good idea is disturbing.
Ohmy, look at all the whiners…but I guess that’s expected. All I know is that I’m excited for this. And Children of Men is one of my all-time favorites so having the writers work on this is great :).
The people complaining about it being set in New York vs. Tokyo make me laugh. The draw of Akira wasn’t what city it was in or the ethnicity of the characters. What made peopel love Akira was the fantastic story and the lush and rich visuals. This thing could be set anywhere and it would work fine as long as the script writers remain true to the story and the characters. I just hope the call him Kaneda not Canada like they do in the redubed mostrosity they are peddeling now.
I love Children of Men but I’m still not looking forward to this. I’ve read the books and seen the movie and in my opinion Akira is distinctly Japanese and makes about as much sense as a Chinese version of Apocalypse Now. I’m sure they can squeeze a decent movie out of this but I feel like the cultural relevance that made it a great story and location will be lost in translation. Besides, who the hell is going to play the role of the American military? lol.
Yeah Hollywood, get your own ideas! Wait, Akira was based off of a comic . . . so I don’t see how this is a whole lot different. This could go very very wrong, and absolutely EVERYTHING will have to be perfect for it to work. I don’t know who was hoping for a live action Akira, doesn’t seem a good risk/reward. It will need to be dark, very stylized, graphic, and extremely story/character heavy. In other words, to make it a good movie the popcorn movie watchers won’t like it anyway. This whole thing just worries me.
Akira was based off of a comic…. which the director of the movie drew himself. So yeah, it is a whole lot different.
But I agree, it’s gonna be really tough for the live-action Akira to please both hardcore fans and casual moviegoers. Risk/reward is definitely stacked up against them.
Leonardo will NOT be staring. He’s said so himself and it’s been reported eons ago that is the case.
Having it being set in America isn’t a deal breaker for me, but if Tetsuo and Kaneda don’t stay Tetsuo and Kaneda (in ethnicity and name) I’ll be lining up with the haters.
If this summer has taught us anything, it’s that star power and conventional wisdom (I.E. handsome white male leads) are completely outdated marketing determinators.
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it was a manga before it was an anime.
not that a online film pulication cares much for these minor facts.
speaking of minor facts, fuck American remakes.
everyone watch The Host before someone buttrapes it.
Stop ruining akira….
No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no! We don’t want a landmark film remade by a bunch of Hollywood hacks! Leave the classics alone!
Welllll - I dunno if there is any real call for this to be made OTHER than H’wood’s consistent fear of new projects, despite the fact that more often than not when new things are given a try they seem to excel…
District 9 & The Hurt Locker come to mind but I’m sure there are others that didn’t really rely SO HEAVILY on a prior “proven” element… the painful re-make of every Saturday Morning cartoon spirngs forth.
Just my $.02 worth
Folks should read Takashi Murakami’s brilliant read of Akira as evoking a distinctly dystopian Japanese response to the American fire and nuclear destruction of the country during WW2. So one can only expect Hollywood to neutralize this edge when it whitewashes the cast, with the exception of the hot Asian female girlfriends, and re-assert American hegemony in the narrative of the live action film. No way will Hollywood sell any Asian male leads unless they neutered or spout confucianisms left and right. I shudder to think of Hollywood retaining the title and casting white actors in yellowface. But I wouldn’t be surprised if this actually happened.
That sounds really interesting–I love Murakami. (You mean Takashi Murakami the artist and not Haruki Murakami the writer, right? Although I love him too.) Where could I find it?
Who cares if the cast is asian? It’s Americans making the movie, with american money, and will be shown and advertised mostly in America, where caucasians are the majority. It only makes logical sense to appeal to the majority when it comes to this, it’s really that simple.
OI! Akira is a classic anime, leave it be, it shouldn’t have to be put in live action, american lemans terms just so a bunch of stupid blockbuster but munches can enjoy the story line! If they want it so bad, strap em down and make em watch the original! an I swear if Mr Ladida DiCaprio puts a finger on that beautiful bike’s transmission I’m goin Brialeos on his arse, with the rabbit ears and everythin!
Here comes more shallow, mindless tinkering from the racists who run Hollywood. And the whitewashing of the cast and story is soon to come.
Whatever made the story interesting or deep will be bleached out of it, so as to appeal to American ignoramuses, of which, unfortunately, there are millions.
I’m sure they’ll find white guys to play “Tetsuo” and “Kaneda,” who will have giggling, Japanese schoolgirls draped all over them. The white filmmakers will point to the Japanese white-guy finger-food as their idea of casting Asians, and of diversity.
I hope this movie flops, and flops hard. Damn, Hollywood racist whites really don’t learn anything from their failures, do they?
They only open their eyes when they make money. This summer’s proof that star names (i.e., WHITE star names) aren’t needed to make a film a hit. Nor does that movie have to be a remake or a sequel.
I have serious doubts about this film and i hope it NEVER becomes a reality. No amount of live action will ever do the original justice, and Akira is just perfect the way it is. Dont make this the next step in ruining another Japanese cultural masterpiece. Dont make this just like Dragonball
When will the japanese stop selling ideas to the americans?
When will the americans stop fu+ing up every good story americanizing the movies???
Future Manhatan?? wtf!!!!
HEY HOLLYWOOD, STOP CHANGING MOVIES!!!!
you screwd up with dragon ball, street fighter(twice), dead or alive, and a long etc…..
They have said countless times that the live action film is an adaptation of the manga, not the anime…
Akira live action remake, ok, good.
Akira live action remake in Manhattan with english actors, not so good.
Place it in Little Tokyo, with Japanese-American actors at the very least.
Otherwise, if there is no Kaneda or Tetsuo, count me out.
LEAVE IT ALONE! THE LAST HUNDRED REMAKES OF ANYTHING HAVE SUCKED!
I think an Akira Live Action movie could be awesome.
But Hollywood will probably totally overlook the rape, murder, drugs and so on that made Akira so deep. Hell, there were overtones of homosexuality in the manga - not blatant, but they were there in subplots. Kai had a crush on Yamagata (who was straight), and it added to his reaction when Yamagata died.
And Akira, with its six books, was FILLED with twisting sub-plots. Kaneda was very prominent but he was far from a lone hero - he had a lot of allies and some of them were once enemies (like Joker, the leader of the Clowns).
Oh yeah, and remember Kei, who eventually became Kaneda’s girl? And that’s a BIG ‘eventually’, because Kaneda started out a real up-and-coming womanising pig. She’ll probably be turned into some chick he has to rescue who adores him instantly for it.
Hollywood will probably overlook them all and turn it into another shallow sci-fi action movie like the latest Godzilla movie.
This movie COULD turn out awesome. But Hollywood’s not been turning out much quality lately, and I don’t have much faith in them for something this complicated and epic.
I was trying to think of how this could be made into a decent movie.. maybe if it actually was set in neo-tokyo, actually starred a japanese cast and actually followed the plot (either the manga or the previous film)? but then I realize that it would still be a really sub-par movie for several reasons. live action remakes of any classic animated films are terrible. period. you can’t do it.
people should watch roger ebert talking about grave of the fireflies (takahata/ghibli). there is something that animated films give that a live action literally cannot. because in animated films you are looking at the “idea” of a character within a narrative. in a live action movie you are looking at a human actor who is portraying a character.. more importantly, the world created around them and how they engage with it is also vastly different. in animation their connection is homogeneous and fluid. because both are “ideas”. in live action there is a stark disconnect (think “sky captain and the world of tomorrow”). these are really important distinctions. That and the fact that akira is also such a classic simply because it is a masterpiece of cell animation, raising the bar in hand-drawn animation and has really yet to be matched by any animated film since.
hollywood will also probably have to distance itself from a lot of the heavy subject matter and imagery that makes akira so rich in the first place. so any way you look at it, this whole thing spells DISASTER.
Personally, a Neo Manhattan built with Japanese money wouldn’t be THAT bad of a setting. But it still doesn’t provide a reason why it can’t be set in Japan.
Oh, wait… it’s because nothing EXISTS outside of America.
And a Japanese cast would be hurled RIGHT out the window. Except for maybe a few minor characters. And I can bet the fattest part of my ass that acting ability and resemblance will be thrown aside in favour of big names.
We all know here that Akira was NEVER an action story. It had plenty of action in it - in fact you couldn’t turn three pages without something blowing up or breaking or something - but that wasn’t the POINT. It was a post-armageddon story about SOCIETY, and corruption in politics, and what happens AFTER you’ve rebuilt from the rubble. Nothing was black and white, it was all shades of grey, and pretty dark shades of grey too. Hell, a shitload of the ‘good’ guys were fucking terrorists, and the manga didn’t do a whole lot to try to change your mind.
Compared to all that, the action and sci-fi stuff was just a backdrop.
You know what else Hollywood will screw up? The ending. There was no happy ending. Thousands of people were dead by the end of even the movie. In the end, it was more of a “The worst is over” ending. NOTHING turned out alright. It was just time to start over from the rubble again, with perhaps a hint of ‘next stage of evolution’ in there.