After decades of failed struggles and millions spent while in development hell, Warner Bros. Pictures has waved the white flag of surrender when it comes to a live-action adaptation of the celebrated manga and ground-breaking 1988 anime feature “Akira”.
The studio has let go of the screen rights to the franchise after 23 years, the rights reverting back to manga publisher Kodansha who first published Katsuhiro Otomo’s work in 1982.
In the wake of this, producers and talent are said to be lining up to attach themselves to the property, with preparations currently underway for pitches to select studios and streamers.
Warners has had a long and troubled history trying to adapt the work after acquiring the rights in 2002, the movie never making it beyond the pre-production phase despite multiple notable attempts – some coming close with cast signed on, budgets outlined and even tax credits earmarked.
Directors including Stephen Norrington, Taika Waititi, Jaume Collet-Sera, the Hughes brothers and more have all come and gone over the years, as have actors like Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart and Ken Watanabe. Leonardo DiCaprio attached himself as producer back in the mid-2000s and has remained that way right up until now.
Key to the issue is that any film would require a gargantuan budget and clear plans – the highly acclaimed anime film adaptation only covered the first two of the six collected volumes of the original manga, even then having to compress various elements to fit a feature runtime. That film remains a foundational work of all anime, still famous for its visual style and unforgettable score.
Earlier incarnations of the live-action remake tried to westernise this most Japanese of stories, shifting the action from Neo Tokyo to Neo Manhattan, which led to accusations of whitewashing and cultural misappropriation. More recent attempts have wanted to stick to an all-Japanese cast.
Set in the city of Neo Tokyo years after World War III, the story follows a teen named Tetsuo who is in a biker gang and discovers he has powerful telekinetic abilities that threaten the world. The only person who seems to be able to stop him is his childhood friend and gang leader Kaneda.
Source: THR
