Akira is easily one of the greatest manga and animated films of all time, and Warner Bros. seems to be having the hardest damn time with getting a live-action adaptation off the ground...
Variety reports today that, following Taika Waititi taking the reins on Marvel’s upcoming Thor 4, the studio has decided to pull the plug on production indefinitely. The adaptation was scheduled to begin filming this Fall with plans to release it in 2021. Warner Bros. hopes that once Waititi is done with Thor 4 that he can get Akira back into production.
The site notes that Waititi was in the midst of meeting with young Japanese actors for Akira’s two lead roles. While the studio originally delayed production to give him time to find the right talent, it now seems budget concerns and creative disagreements over the project sent the film back into development.
Jaume Collet-Serra was set to direct in 2012. Warner Bros. had similar budgetary concerns at the time, and the studio went back to the drawing board. I appreciate the studios attempts to make this adaptation come to fruition, but this whole waiting game is growing tiresome.
In Akira, a secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.
