Akira to Get Movie-ized... Again

POSTED BY Alex Zalben, 21 February 2008

Following up on the classic anime, and, of course, Kanye West's classic "Stronger" video, Akira is finally getting a full sized, live action movie treatment.

This is, in fact, pretty cool news. Akira is a highly visual Manga that, I think, can be finally captured and created the right way on film. Obviously, the majority of it will have to be green screened and CGIed, but what isn't these days, anyway? Feh. Kids and their movies.

What about the deets, though? According to the Hollywood Reporter:

Ruairi Robinson has been hired to direct what would ideally be a two-part epic. Gary Whitta is writing the adaptation, which DiCaprio will produce via his Appian Way shingle. Andrew Lazar is also producing via his Mad Chance shingle. Jennifer Davisson, who heads up Appian, will also be involved in some producorial capacity.

Oh, cool... Wait, who's Ruairi Robinson? He's the guy that directed this short film, making Akira his first feature. Or rather, first two features:



Now, here's the rumor-y part. Leonardo DiCaprio will also star as Toshi, and Joseph Gordon Levitt will co-star as Tetsuo. These are both excellent castings, and the whole thing sounds off to a rip-roaring start, except... Akira is, by its very nature, Japanese. The set-up, at least, plays heavily off the idea of post-nuclear fears caused by Hiroshima and Nagasaki. So where will this be set? Will they ignore the subtext, or re-contextualize it? There's a lot of questions surrounding this project right now, and I think the film makers would be best served to treat it how Zach Snyder is dealing with Watchmen: with a fair degree of transparency.

[Via]Akira