Fans Rejoice: Live-Action 'Akira' is "Dead as a Doornail"
Filed under: Animation, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Deals, RumorMonger, Scripts, Remakes and Sequels
You probably remember that a little over a year ago, the news hit that Leonardo DiCaprio would be producing a live action version of the beloved anime, Akira, and as to be expected, fans were peeved. Within minutes, comment boards (including ours) were jammed with cries of white-washing, racism, and general predictions of overall crappiness. But, if you happen to have been one of those fans crying for blood; I've got some good news for you. Bloody Disgusting now reports that the live-action Akira has been pronounced "Dead as a doornail" by not one, but two inside sources -- I guess we should have seen this coming when the film was promised to be released in 2009, and there wasn't a signed cast member in sight.For those not familiar with Akira, it was the story of a teen biker gang member who is subjected to government experiments and unleashes destruction on a post-nuclear Tokyo. Ruairi Robinson had originally been slated to direct a script by Gary Whitta (Book of Eli), but DiCaprio had promised that they wouldn't be moving ahead with Akira until they had a quality script, so maybe Whitta could have been the source of the delay. Either way, I guess we can all breathe a sigh of relief that Tetsuo and the gang are safe from the monster known as 'reboot fever'...at least for now, anyway.
After the jump; status reports on other classic anime in line for a Hollywood makeover...
Cowboy Bebop:
Fox seems to keen to get this one into production sooner rather than later, and they have already secured Keanu Reeves as their lead. So other than the obvious joke that this movie was already made once before (Serenity, anyone?), fans of Bebop will probably just have to start getting used to the idea of Reeves as Spike, because Fox's projected 2010 release date is a likely possibility.
Ninja Scroll:
When it comes to the anime that most of us have seen, Ninja Scroll is usually at the top of the list. Scroll is still considered one of the best anime films of all time, and was also bought up by Leonardo DiCaprio last year. So I guess we can say what we want about DiCaprio's need for remakes, but we certainly can't fault his taste, but there hasn't been much to report since Alex Tse (Watchmen) was hired to write the script back in 2008.
Voltron:
It's been almost a year since we last heard a peep from the robot anime, and frankly, it's not looking good. There were reports that the film was going into turnaround with Fox's Relativity Media, and in spite of reports that Max Makowski had been hired to direct, I doubt we will be seeing Voltron on the big screen any time soon.
Robotech:
I guess Voltron isn't the only giant robot movie that seems to be having trouble getting off the ground; Robotech has has already gone through one writer, and now the Spiderman boys are taking a crack at it.
Ghost in The Shell:
The idea of a live action GiTS has been floating around Hollywood for a long time, but now that Spielberg has caught the 3D bug and has gotten involved, the project will probably start making some ground (although even Spielberg is having trouble getting money these days). Just as long as they don't hire some fan-boy flavor of the month as my beloved Major; I think I can deal.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-15-2009 @ 5:29PM
Erika said...
OMG I am terrified of how badly these great animes will be butchered by Hollywood!
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6-15-2009 @ 7:00PM
SunKing said...
Really, who when watching Akira thought, "Hey, that's a great idea for a live-action movie!"?
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6-15-2009 @ 9:33PM
darksmile said...
Your forgot to mention "BATTLE ANGEL" Known as "GUNMM" Which is scheduled as James Cameron next movie.
Wikipedia Link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_Angel_Alita
IMDB Page:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437086/
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6-15-2009 @ 10:21PM
sombra said...
What about Evangelion? Wasn't Weta supposed to be working on that?
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6-16-2009 @ 12:11AM
jubilantia said...
Oh man, these guys need to stay away from anime adaptations. The only one I know is Cowboy Bebop, and if Keanu Reeves is their idea of Spike, I'm boycotting. Just... no. I know Spike can be stoic, but the physical resemblance- well, it's not there. I couldn't see Reeves with the hair. Not to mention that Spike's got more flair and sardonic smooth charm in his little finger than Reeves could imagine.
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6-16-2009 @ 1:31AM
Ken said...
Firstly, while Serenity shares one common theme with Cowboy Bebop, their respective plots, characters, and worlds(solar systems I guess) are immensely different. That being said, decent actors and a decent script need to be set up minus Keanu.
Secondly, I don't understand why everyone cries racism and foul when an anime is adapted by American studios with American actors and settings. It makes sense, seeing as it is being made by Americans for American audiences. It seems to me that the same people should criticize Kurosawa for adapting English plays without using English actors. Taking another culture's story and adapting it to one's own seems commonplace to me, its only in the last few years that everyone has gotten testy about it...
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6-16-2009 @ 1:13PM
Diana Caban said...
I have to agree with fans. Hollywood should just stay FAR away from Anime. I've enjoyed the classics, Akira, Evangelion, Ninja Scroll, Gundam Wing, TekkaMan, Ghost In The Shell, Tenchi Muyo, 8 Man. And so many more..
I'd hate to have to see such quality storytelling and animation get butchered by Hollywood. As for the whitewashing comment, I'd have to agree!
Leonardo DiCaprio to produce and possibly star in this? How white can you get at this point?
Akira should only be filmed in Japan and have a worldwide release with english subtitles, and I would be the FIRST in line for the U.S. release.
Just imagine they have nothing but white american actors and then it gets overhyped like, Twilight. Then....it bombs..
What a nightmare that would be!
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6-16-2009 @ 2:46PM
Nandokun said...
Leo never wanted to star in it. He was just going to executive produce it. He was also basing the plot on the 6 volume manga serial and not the anime film which he had admitted to reading and being a fan of. He also had Katshiro Otomo on board. With that, I was willing to withhold judgment at least until a trailer was produced.
http://movies.commongate.com/post/Live_action_Akira_movie_confirmed/
6-17-2009 @ 5:27PM
John Wayne said...
You people are so close minded its sickening.
Anime -> Movies are a great OPPORTUNITY. Its up to those involved to make a great adaptation.
Seriously you bastards are destroying the chance for both anime and excellent stories to go main stream.
Noone complains when books are adapted into movies 'OMG THEYLL RUIN JURASIC PARK'
piss of the lot of yas
6-16-2009 @ 11:57PM
Kenneth said...
Is the American film industry commpletely lost or what?!?! Ruining American comic books just isn't enough for them anymore, so now they set to ruin Japanese anime and graphic novels. The only one listed in this article I'm actually anxious to see is Cameron's "Battle Angel" only because he's working very close with Yukito Kishiro (the manga's author.)
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6-18-2009 @ 11:52AM
Liaz said...
This could have been ok if they had stuck to the manga, which is aparantly what they were originally trying to do. Seriously, the original anime barely scratches the surface of the manga, and seeing it adapted faithfully on the screen in two movies would have been really cool. Although, having read the review of the proposed scipt for this, maybe it's a good thing that this film's not in development right now. The script didn't seem like it would be all that great, but I wouldnt mind if in a year or so someone has a real good stab at trying to faithfully adapt Akira. As for the other announcements, KEANU REEVES CANNOT BE SPIKE. This isnt because I'm a mad, raving fanboy, but I have seen the original series and enjoyed it a lot, and Keanu Reeves will not be able to portray Spike Spiegel accurately at all.
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6-26-2009 @ 3:27AM
Izzy said...
Okay after what we've seen with live-action anime, only one that was done right was Speed Racer. Now with that awesomeness, I could say it may or may work. What most of us who grew up watching anime and tokusatsu shows know is one rule: It has to be right. Akira might be a bad idea only because it's a masterpiece by Katsuhiro Otomo. Hell it might be another stinker like Dragonball or Fist of the North Star. Same rules applies to Bebop, Macross and Voltron. And if I remember right, Cowboy Bebop already had its chance on the big screen once and that's how it should stay. I'm not an otaku but just a long time devoted fan to anime and toku series and I would hate to have the series creators shudder in disgust because Hollywood tries something new to an already great series.
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7-14-2009 @ 10:58AM
1 Opinion said...
If Izzy was referring to Knocking on Heaven's Door for the Cowboy Bebop movie it was excellent!
Hrmm, the atmospherics surrounding the Akira film were what made it so classic. It would be difficult to recreate that without just copying it. In general live action anime movies have historically gotten all of the attention and respect in production that video game moves have--perhaps Leo wanted to hire Uwe Boll to direct. Now if an effort could be made like the most recent attempts at comic book movies such as Iron Man, the Batman films, or perhaps Spiderman (1 and 2, NOT 3), certainly The Watchman, then I would be all for someone taking on a few anime titles.
The only problem would be which ones? I can't think of a scenario in which a live action Ninja Scroll movie would NOT end up looking just ridiculous. If you all were honest with yourselves in looking at that film, you would have to agree. You might as well get the guy who does the Ultimate Power website to direct. Now Cowboy Bebop done up a bit like a slightly darker Iron Man, MAYBE even as creative as the Raime with Spiderman (I'd love to see his take on Ed and mushroom hunting) would be incredible. Perhaps if Robotech was addressed as serious as The Watchman it would work as well--as relationship driven as that anime was.
Open the hate gates and let it pour in on me--I'll just come out and say it Ghost in the Shell was far too slap you in the face preachy and clost to stagnant at some points in the movie. The serious Stand Alone Complex had some of the very same difficulties. I'll admit the animation was great and the action sequences and characters were well done, but some of the extending-brooding scenes with the Major were brutal. A live action version of this would have some scenes that would make The Insider seem exciting.
Don't get me started on Evangelion, all that screaming and crying--just far to grating on the nerves.
The problem with adapting anime to live action, a problem even more prevalent than comic book adaptations, is one of style. So many animes have hyperbolic style to their characters and settings would look insane to directly translate to live action but would also look lame if watered down to more human realistic proportions (weak example is Streetfighter--not an anime but come on, M.Bison played by late Raul Julia??) This limits things for example in a Keanu - SPike because you're faced with either having him wear a wig that stands 18 inches straight up and a pair of shoes that are a cross between clown and combat boots, or you have to reface the character and loose that iconic style. While I loved the series Samurai Champloo, I just don't see a way too keep the hyperstyling and at the same time the serious angle.
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