After years spent in limbo, it looks like Akira is going to get its due in Hollywood. With director Taika Waititi on board to oversee the live-action adaptation, reports suggest Akira will kick off production this summer.
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According to a report by Discussing Film, Akira is slated to begin filming this summer in Los Angeles. The date in question is set at July 15, and Michael Golamco has been tasked to co-write the film alongside Waititi.
So far, no official word has been given on Akira‘s start date, but netizens admit they are not surprised by this report. Earlier this year, headlines surfaced about Akira and a massive tax incentive it was awarded by the state of California.
So, how much money was Akira offered? Well, if the report by the California Film Comission’s Film & TV Tax Credit Program is right, then it was a good bit. It is said that Akira will get a tax credit of $18.5 million.
“We are thrilled with the opportunity to shoot Akirain California,” Ravi Mehta, Warner Bros. Pictures EVP of physical production and finance, said about the incentive. “The availability of top-notch crew members, plus the wide variety of location choices and predictable weather are second to none.”
In order to receive this tax credit, Akira would need to begin filming sooner rather than later, so it makes sense Warner Bros. Pictures would speed up their timeline. It wasn’t too long an initial synopsis for Akira went live which can be found below, and its controversial changes to the original anime’s setting and lead characters riled up netizens big time.
“When a young man’s telekinesis is discovered by the military, he is taken in to be turned into a super weapon and his brother must race to save him before Manhattan is destroyed by his powers. Kaneda is a bar owner in Neo-Manhattan who is stunned when his brother Tetsuo is abducted by Government agents lead by the Colonel. Desperate to get his brother back, Kaneda agrees to join Ky Reed and her underground movement who are intent on revealing to the world what truly happened to New York City 30 years ago when it was destroyed.
Kaneda believes their theories to be ludicrous, but after facing his brother again is shocked when he displays telekinetic powers. Ky believes Tetsuo is headed to release a young boy. Akira, who has taken control of Tetsuo’s mind, Kaneda clashes with the Colonel’s troops on his way to stop Tetsuo from releasing Akira, but arrives too late. Akira soon emerges from his prison courtesy of Tetsuo as Kaneda races to save his brother before Akira once again destroys Manhattan island as he did thirty years ago.”
So, do you have faith in this long-coming adaptation? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!
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