Warner Bros. greenlights Akira remake
The original anime is based in Neo Tokyo, 2019, Shotaro Kaneda (Mitsuo Iwata) leads the Capsules, his bōsōzoku gang, to fight against the Clowns. However, Kaneda's best friend Tetsuo Shima (Nozomu Sasaki) is injured when he almost hits Takashi (Tatsuhiko Nakamura), a small but decrepit psychic boy called an esper. Takashi is captured by armed soldiers and has Tetsuo hospitalized. When Kaneda and his gang are interrogated, he tries to flirt with Kei (Mami Koyama), a member of a dissident underground terrorist group before being released.
The live action remake is eyeing frontrunner Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy) for the lead character, Kaneda.
Akira comes to theaters in 2013 and stars Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Ken Watanabe. The film is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra.
Comments (23)
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skywise
@messenger FMA happens to have some of the best animators in the buisness as well.
7 months agoby @skywiseFlag
Messenger
@skywise
Gotcha, I've never been a big fan of anime but i LOVE FMA. One of of the best stories I've ever seen/heard.
7 months agoby @messengerFlag
skywise
@messenger That is true about Jackson but in all fairness he did have a pretty awesome history. I was a fan of Jackson since Meet the Feebles but watching that weird movie i would never have guessed they would have picked him for LOTR. However, after Heavenly Creatures i knew that he could nail the characterizations. Thank God for WETA.
Personaly i love this story although the movie only covers some of the manga it is based on. There is a lot to derive from it but mostly deals with science gone awry, spirituality, social unrest and revolution.
7 months agoby @skywiseFlag
CUPID
@felipe-11 Even if its set in Tokyo they're going to mess it up so much trying to get to the "non-anime viewers" and its already stated with the cast being whitewash as usual, so if thats the way it works then we go ourselves another live action fail on our hands.
7 months agoby @cupidFlag
felipe-11
@cupid I still hope they set in Tokyo, even with an all-american cast, that's the whole charm of the anime (to me at least), just like Ghost In The Shell, you can't set those movies in America, they HAVE to be in Asia. Otherwise you start messing the story up just to change the setting and thats when it all goes to hell.
7 months agoby @felipe-11Flag
CUPID
They're going to f*ck this up big time...good thing there's always the anime.
@felipe-11 Ok i kinda get what your saying about A-list actor but come on and all American cast(yes its going be) living in Neo Tokyo with Japanese names...wow thats a fail already.
7 months agoby @cupidFlag
felipe-11
Lets face it guys, if this had a japanese cast half the world would lose interest in this film. Many non-anime viewers will see a jap lead actor and think its some weird japanese film, where if they see an A-list actor (he was the lead in Tron, people know him now) or a bunch of known american actors, they'll be, at the very least, curious. Thats just the way it works.
The only thing I hope is that the story still stays true, and most importantly, IS SET IN NEO-JAPAN, not some Neo-America. That would completely change the film.
7 months agoby @felipe-11Flag
m3m3z90
Hopefully they'll get an asian actor for Tetsuo.
7 months agoby @m3m3z90Flag
Salem6777
well this movie is going to be f*cked by Hollywood
7 months agoby @Salem6777Flag
Justhim_sir
What ever happen to that director that made face-off?
7 months agoby @justhim-sirFlag
Messenger
@skywise
I understand your worry but think about what Peter Jackson did with LOTR and compared to his older work. As for me, I know nothing of this story. Do you recommend it?
7 months agoby @messengerFlag
Twisted Smile (The Untold Smile)
I had a feeling they were going to go this route. They already made a mistake with their choice of casting. Nothing against Garrett Hedlund, but this should have went to an Asian actor. For God's sake, they are keeping all the original names. How did they mess this one up? They just have to Americanize everything don't they. I wonder what their thought process is like?
7 months agoby @twistedsmileFlag
bud2fresh
He should be working on the next Tron damnit!
7 months agoby @bud2freshFlag
m2
@styxx haha
7 months agoby @m2Flag
Dan
There were no Asian actors to fill the role?
7 months agoby @dan1Flag
Bawnian©-Dexeus
Oh well, lets see what happens
7 months agoby @bawnian-dexeusFlag
skywise
I am not entirely against this film being made and not even too fretful that Hedlund will be the lead but what has me worried is Collet-Serra. This is a HUGE project and i have serious doubts if this guy is up for the task. Call me pessimistic but a film of this calibre would need a much more well proven director. Thats just my opinion tho.
Also, as this was one of the very first Japanese animation movies i remeber seeing i MIGHT have a little too high expectations. If this were something that wasn't as revered in the anime community perhaps i wouldnt mind so much but its freaking Akira. I mean, this movie really was a revolution for the Japanese animation movie industry and introduced a lot of people (myself included) to the genius of not only Katsuhiro Otomo, but the art and style of anime film makers in general.
7 months agoby @skywiseFlag
Pjwolsker
good stuff.. he hast been in much since tron and country strong
7 months agoby @pjwolskerFlag
Dbzfan91
Okay cool. I have no problem with live action movies based off anime. But if Hollywood can make a movie based off this or if they can make a sh*tty movie like the Scorpion King 3 then why the f*ck can they not make a big budget live action Dragonball Z movie?!?! fighting, explosions, Energy blasts, power ups, yelling and screaming, awesome characters both heroes and villains put that all together combine it with live action and you get an awesome action movie that tons of people and fans would watch.....f*ck Hollywood is pathetic...
7 months agoby @dbzfan91Flag
Styxx
Fantastic, I hope next we get a remake of Ghandi starring Colin Farrell as Ghandi
7 months agoby @styxxFlag
ejk1
Whitewashing. Boooooo! Find a Japanese actor!!!!!
7 months agoby @ejk1Flag
Xoxo666
Garrett with futuristic bikes... again? :P
7 months agoby @xoxo666Flag
felipe-11
Finally! Garrett is a great choice too!
7 months agoby @felipe-11Flag