New Reports Explain The Surprising Reasons Behind Akira’s Delay

It is no secret; Anime has never fared all too well in Hollywood. While projects like Alita: Battle Angel and Detective Pikachu made headway with the genre, the industry has never done well adapting anime. However, fans had hoped that would all change when director Taika Waititi gave his take on Akira, but they should not hold their breaths.

After all, the live-action take on Akira has been delayed, and new reports have gone live signaling what went wrong with the film.

Earlier today, reports went public confirming Waititi’s plans to director Thor 4. The decision was met with rave responses, but fans were curious to learn Akira would be put to the side to make room for Thor. After all, the live-action film was set to film before the fall came around, but two new reports says Akira has been struggling for awhile now.

Before the reports today went live, Kris Tapley was the first to reference Akira and its lackluster progress. The insider posted a tweet on June 29 saying they had learned “Taika Waititi’s AKIRA [had] been shut down in Atlanta.”

“Apparently they were eight weeks out from shooting and nothing built. Budget problems and script issues. They may get it back on track after a few weeks, but right now, it’s shutting down,” Tapley continued.

“Jaume Collet-Serra’s previous attempt was shut down in 2012. They’ve obviously been trying to mount a production for years, from Stephen Norrington to Ruairi Robinson to the Hughes brothers. Cursed property?”

Today, Variety reporter Justin Kroll took to Twitter to add his own details about the delay. The journalist said multiple sources close to producers say “the studio was not only surprised but a little caught off guard by the director’s decision to jump from Akira to Thor 4, given how close Akira was to its own production.”

There are no firm details from Waititi or Warner Bros. Pictures about the Akira delay. As these reports detail, it seems pre-production on the film has been stalled out for a good bit. Recently, the creator of Akira was even in Los Angeles for Anime Expo, so there is little doubt Katsuhiro Otomo was given an update on any production issues with the feature. And if he should have had any issues with the adaptation, you can rest assured Otomo would have said something to someone in charge.

So, do you think Akira will even get a live-action adaptation at this rate…? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!