Since the early ‘00s, there has been word of a live-action remake of the acclaimed Katsuhiro Otomo anime, Akira. Released originally in 1988, it really helped break anime into North American culture. Based on a 2,000 page graphic novel, known in Japan as manga, this was such a task to condense such an immense manga into a two hour movie. Here is the trailer for the recently released Blu Ray version so you can get an idea of what the movie it like.
For the past few years, I have heard about a remake of this phenomenal film and have drooled over it. Leonardo DiCaprio was originally going to produce the project for Warner Bros. and it was going to based on the manga and not the anime. This was good because as good as the film is, the story is a little convoluted and in need of a new script. This movie was supposed to be “epic” because it was going to have two parts, each covering three of the six manga volumes. The budget was expected to be about $300 million dollars which would put it on par with James Cameron’s Avatar, which cost at least $250 million to make.
Now here is the problem. As of 2008, the first film was supposed to come out in the Summer of 2009, which sadly, it did not. So what’s the problem? Well, the movie was going to be directed by Ruairi Robinson, who directed a few shorts, one of which was nominated for a Oscar for animation. As of right now, Ruairi Robinson is off the project according to Bloody Disgusting and the movie is “dead as a doornail”. Also, Warner Bros. lost a bidding war in 2008 and lost the rights to the movie. This saddens me greatly.
As a fan of the original anime, I was very excited to see this film come to fruition. But the higher-ups seem to be in bidding wars and trying to find directors who will take on the roll. Rumors say that Zack Snyder, who directed 300, has been approached, but he declined. So looks like in may be another few years before we see anything develop with a remake, in which I have to reply with…TETSUO!
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