Taika Waititi Says He’s Still Working On The ‘Akira’ Live-Action Film

When it comes to live-action anime, fans have long said some series just shouldn’t be touched. Dragon Ball was one of those franchises, but 20th Century Fox penetrated its untouchable status with a poorly received adaptation. Ghost in the Shell was also up there until its live-action film came around, but Akira hasn’t been touched — yet.

Despite its popularity, Akira has yet to be made into a live-action film, but it looks like Hollywood is keen on changing that. Over the last year, reports have indicated director Taika Waititi has been roped in to work on the feature, and it seems the heralded creator is very much on-board with the project.

Recently, Waititi did an interview with Dazed Digital to talk about his career, and the Thor: Ragnarok director was asked about his rumored work on Akira. The director didn’t shoot down his part on the film and instead said he’s struggling to get his mind around the project. So, it certainly sounds like he is involved.

“I haven’t really started to get my head around it yet. What I wanted to do was an adaptation of the books, ‘cos a lot of people are like, ‘Don’t touch that film!’ and I’m like, ‘I’m not remaking the film, I want to go back to the book.’ A lot of the people freaking out haven’t even read the books, and there are six gigantic books to go through,” the director explained.

“It’s so rich. But (the anime) Akira is one of my favourite films; my mum took me to see it when I was 13 and it changed my life.”

It’s no secret that Waititi is a fan of Akira as the director has talked about the series time and again. In the past, he has said he would champion the live-action adaptation to have the diverse cast required to pull it off right, and Waititi’s focus on the manga would help differentiate it from the acclaimed anime film. There is no word on whether Waititi will carry out the film officially as no word has been given by Warner Bros. Pictures, but fans admit the director would be a solid choice to oversee the iconic series. So, here’s to hoping fans get a more substantial update on the movie sooner rather than later.

Do you think Waititi is a good choice to oversee the live-action Akira movie? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics, k-pop, and anime!