There have been enough starts, stops and major personnel changes on this long-discussed Hollywood remake of AKIRA that I’ve long since given up on a trying to keep up with it. I don’t really remember what the last development was - - it got a new director after it was cancelled, right? - - but Variety says it’s finally happening. For real, this time. For real, for real. So real that Warner Bros has just given it the ever-elusive “green light” for production.
So now it’s just a question of when.
Spaniard Jaume Collet-Serra (whose credits include ORPHAN) will be directing this with a $90 million budget that’s been worked down from the initial estimates that were reportedly much, much higher. TRON: LEGACY star, Garrett Hedlund, is said to be the front-runner for the lead role, although it hasn’t been specified if that role’s Kaneda or Tetsuo. I’ll guess it’s the former. Dude seems more like Kaneda.
Until we actually, you know, see anything, I don’t think there’s anything new to say about this project that hasn’t already been said during the many, many pre-production updates. You lunatics will probably be pleased to know, at least, that Otomo will be an executive producer on this and Kodansha received a very nice seven-figure deal for the rights.
Whooo-hoooo! At least it isn't Leonardo Di Caprio like the rumours said.
Well, I'll give it a chance. You never know.
@Superevil225 said:
Yay it isn't Academy Award-nominated Leonardo Di Caprio, instead it's Saturn-nominated Garrett Hedlund.
I don't know about this one, i thought the Hughes brothers were more of a fit to do this.
They couldn't get asians to fill in the asian roles?
@Tom_Pinchuk:
I'm not impressed Otomo is credited as executive producer. They always say that sort of thing when it comes to comic adaptations. That doesn't mean it will be a good adaptation. Hollywood has just bled dry comic books for content. They are not turning their greedy eyes on manga and anime to adapt poorly. Dragonball Evolution is a prime example. They just made some cheesy kung-fu movie, and slapped the Dragon Ball name on it. They do it with books all the time. There is no reason to expect anything different from this.
I just wish they would remaster the original animated movie and put it on Blu-ray.
@Superevil225:
If they do go for PG-13. I do know. It's a three letter description D.O.A. From the few adaptations Hollywood has done based on manga/anime. There is no reason to have any faith in them, because they haven't earned any.
@arch4non:
That's just another example of Hollywood's whitewashing. They did it for Prince of Persia.
AKIRA is the only anime I like that isn't from Studio G, so hopefully this works out. A few days ago I started watching it for the third time, but in Japanese (which I can't speak). The movie is so memorable that I know what the character's are saying from the first two times I watched it.
@arch4non said:
No. They just chose to cast white people instead to make it "more marketable."
I read this over on Screened, too, and the general consensus over there is the movie will be bad. I have to agree. PG-13? Come on. No Asians? Child please! $90 million budget? Laughable. Maybe they can change it so everything is done in Japan and then Hollywood does the effects.
When it comes trailer time I'll decide whether it will be worth spending the money to go. Still, I don't have much hope in this project and I was really wanting this to be good so more good adaptations could be made.
@FoxxFireArt: The movie is out on Blu-ray. I have a copy.
@FoxxFireArt said:
The real tragedy with Dragonball Evolution is that Stephen Chow was a producer on it. If he had actually directed it, it might have been decent. Kung Fu Hustle was a better Dragonball movie by the end than Evolution.
@sotyfan16:
I more mean a Evangelion Rebuild remastering. Sort of a ground up remake with higher quality animation.
@Wandering_Idiot:
No director could of fixed that effed up script.
Live-action adaptations of animated programs rarely work. Well I hope this one is good.
...yippee...
You all are crazy people. Just fucking let them make the movie and be done with it. All they need to do is make one fucking Akira movie and we can all move on with our lives and not have to deal with the rumors and speculations the press love to throw a frenzy over every time a new detail about this project emerges.
I mean it. Just let them make a stupid Hollywood film. With a fucking white cast, a smart car instead of a motorcycle, make the film be a giant metaphor about the evils of the Bush administration! JUST MAKE THE GODDAMN MOVIE! They just need to make one live action film and it's never going to fucking happen ever again. It's like your MMR shot. One and done.
Fuck. Come on. If they make the movie we don't ever have to live with this bullshit ever again. Think about it.
It being PG-13 doesn't bother me. You can get extremely violent in PG-13. I think people have mistaken PG-13 as meaning it can't be anymore violent than Barney and Friends or something. Outside of a kid losing his arm (which you could easily cut around and still have happen, just now show an extreme close-up) and the girlfriend crush (which you could handle in the same way) I don't remember Akira being the ultra gorefest slasher flick people make it out to be. All of the important characters being white? There's nothing new, shocking, unprecedented, or surprising about this to me. It just means it will be like most US films that come to US theaters every year. I don't get why all of the sudden this is a shocker to people. How many Japanese live-action films cast Americans in all of the key roles?
Having said that, I'm not too excited about this. I thought all of the good things about the anime were spectacle and that the story had major pacing issues and felt like there were things that were left out and completely unexplained, perhaps because they assumed everyone watching it had read the manga and could fill in the gaps. The replacement of the Hughes Brothers for the guy who did Orphan is a wretched move as well. Those two seem likely to combine for a garbage in, garbage out scenario.
I've never understood this urge to make anime into live-action productions. It seems to never work out, but maybe I've missed the exception to the rule.
Akira is pretty cryptic as is. I'm sure this is just the type of movie Mr. and Mrs. Middle-America want. Ah well, maybe the motorcycle will be cool at least.