After years of false starts and numerous directors and writers, the live-action Hollywood remake of Akira has finally been officially greenlit by Warner Bros. It will be directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, who most recently helmed the Liam Neeson thriller Unknown.
Akira is widely regarded as one of the most famous anime films of all time, and with good reason. It manages to combine truly spectacular visuals with an intricate, gripping story about a biker gang in a stunningly realised ‘Neo-Tokyo’. One of the members of the gang, Kaneda, is forced to attempt to save his friend when he gains unfathomable supernatural abilities. Variety report that the film, due to go into production early next year, will have an estimated 90million budget and that Garret Hedlund (Tron: Legacy) is the frontrunner for the role of Kaneda. The new version will relocate to Neo-Manhattan in the US, also.
Akira has been in the works for a while, but there will surely be some worries about this remake with the news that the budget, for what is intended to be a blockbuster, is relatively low. Anyone who has seen the original will know that it’s incredibly large in scope and an absolute visual treat. For 90million, it may be difficult for Collet-Serra to emulate the imagery from the anime effectively – whilst Unknown was an enjoyable thriller, it didn’t stand out visually. As with all remakes there will be many detractors who feel that the film just shouldn’t be made, and whilst there’s no avoiding the remake, hopefully it will succeed in interpreting the original story in a fresh, and exciting way.
Check out the trailer for the original below to see why you should check it out, even if you’re not an anime fan!