When it comes to anime films, few titles are bigger than Akira. Creator Katsuhiro Otomo put the feature on the world’s stage decades ago, and now Akira is hailed as one of the best sci-fi movies of all time. A few years back, reports surfaced that Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi was looking to take a crack at Akira with a Hollywood adaptation. And now, an update suggests Waititi is still working on the film.
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The update comes from Justin Kroll, a senior reporter at Deadline, in the wake of Star Wars Celebration this weekend. It was there Disney and Lucasfilm confirmed Waititi would be directing a Star Wars film, but no word was given on when. Kroll stepped up to answer the question and said the Star Wars flick will likely get underway once Waititi has had his way with Akira.
“Since everyone is wondering where his STAR WARS film is, if I were a betting man my guess is Taika’s next movie is his AKIRA movie at WB, which he put on shelf to do L&T. He never left the film and word is script should be into studio soon,” Kroll shared. “Again nothing set in stone as the film would go through regular process before greenlight including figuring out a budget but sounds like all his focus is on that project.”
This update on Akira is one of the first we’ve gotten in ages, to be honest. In 2017, reports surfaced connecting Waititi to the live-action adaptation, and Warner Bros. went on to schedule a release date for Akira. However, the studio wound up tabling Akira once Waititi agreed to focus on Thor: Love and Thunder for Marvel Studios. At the time, it was unclear whether Warner Bros. were going to shelf the Akira adaptation for good, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. According to Kroll, Waititi has kept Akira on his back burner, and he is now trying to piece together an adaptation.
If you are not familiar with Akira, well – just know Waititi has big shoes to fill. Otomo’s gorgeous groundbreaking movie made its debut in 1988. Set in a dystopian world, Akira tells the story of Shotaro Kaneda, the leader of a biker gang whose life is turned upside down when their friend goes AWOL after unlocking telekinetic powers. Akira helped define the cyberpunk genre with its release, and to this day, many count Otomo’s film as one of the best in movie history. So for those who want to know more about Akira, you can read its official synopsis below:
“Neo-Tokyo, 2019. The city is well on the way to rebuilding after World War III. The central characters, Kaneda and Tetsuo, two high school drop-outs, are members of a joy-riding motorcycle gang. In the opening scene, Kaneda and Tetsuo stumble upon a secret government project to develop telekinetic humans, apparently for use as weapons. Tetsuo learns of the existence of his ‘peer’ Akira, the project’s most powerful subject, and determines to challenge him…”
Would you like to see Waititi tackle Akira with a live-action adaptation? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.
