Akira (2021)

[Nwerke]

Re: American "Akira" coming 2011

If the New Tokyo of the film was going to be a re-branded, re-renamed New York, then the producers changing the characters into adults (and finding some way of making them behave like clueless teenagers) would have been the least of our worries. Did you ever hear of the proposed Hollywood version of Samurai Cat? Tomokato was going to become a jive-talking NYC pizza delivery boy played by Michael Jackson.

From Myeek's link: "We had heard that the new story was going to uproot the location from Japan to America, with Japanese corporations buying the land where New York once stood, now just a deserted island amidst a collapsed economy. They invest, build it up to a new sprawling metropolis called New Tokyo, and that's where the events take place."

 

[GotWookiee]

Re: American "Akira" coming 2011

While I'm not sure what to think of a live-action remake of Akira, I think the predictions you guys are making are way off base. What makes you think that they would recast it with actors in their mid-thirties? Has that even happened before? Remakes and spin-offs almost always opt to use a "younger, edgier" cast, not an older one.

I wouldn't worry about the violence and blood being toned down at all. Lately, Hollywood seems to have a ravenous appetite for violence. Sin City, 300, Watchmen, Kick-Ass, Inglorious Basterds, the Saw films, etc. are all examples of this. Most of those are comic-book movies, too. If anything I would be worried that an American remake would become overly fixated on the graphic violence.

If they remake it, I wonder if they will change the title. It's my understanding that Akira is a common name in Japan. Almost like the name John, and that Otomo chose that name to make it seem like it could have been anyone.

It's important they get a director who can preserve the story and style. One should find the Espers and their grotesque nursery deeply unsettling without seeming ridiculous. Neo-Tokyo, whether it is located in Tokyo Bay or not, needs to have the decadence, nihilism, and chaos of the original, without seeming like it's ripping off Blade Runner.

I'm not too worried about changing the location. That's less important to me than preserving the stories, characters, the themes, and the visual style. There are a lot of themes in the film that would be relevant to American audiences today. Politicians engaged in politics without regard for the common good, domestic terrorism, social unrest, youth with no regard for their future, a citizenry concerned only with self-indulgence, etc.

I'm interested to see where it goes. My greatest fear is that it will be transformed into a run of the mill action blockbuster focused on action scenes, flashy CGI-enhanced camera moves, and gratuitous use of slow motion and speed-ramp effects.

 

[dbalschi]

Re: American "Akira" coming 2011

Keanu Reeves is up for the lead role
Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.

 

[Wes R]

Re: American "Akira" coming 2011

This will be a horror show just like the American Godzilla and will stink of Michael Bay wannabe filming techniques.

 

[metrosonus]

Re: American "Akira" coming 2011

George Takei went on a rant on NPR about it being discriminatory towards Asians that it's essentially a manga story and that remaking it with caucasian characters is a form of defamation. I can't say I disagree with him..

 

[Wes R]

Re: American "Akira" coming 2011

If they wanted to find a way to take the story and adjust it to fit America and call it something else and say "Base on akira" that's one thing but to just throw it together based on the manga is an automatic death sentence for it. They can't even make a good manga/anime based movie that featured American/white people in it (Fist of the North Star, Speed Racer).

 

[Clutch]

Re: American "Akira" coming 2011

Sounds like a Nicholas Cage Superman.

 

[clancampbell]

Re: American "Akira" coming 2011

Kaneda is quite young, isn't he? And Keanu is, what, 40 something?

This has the burdegeoning smell of cat poop.....

Rich

 

[cayman shen]

Re: American "Akira" coming 2011

Doing this without Japanese people in Japan is ridiculous. How is it even still Akira?! The themes and ideas can't just be LIFTED out and popped down anywhere. It's a distinctly Japanese creation.

 

[Nataku]

Re: American "Akira" coming 2011

This is from the "cracked" website, take it for what it's worth.

Warning, possible spoilers

The Actual Live-Action Akira Script: Worse Than You Think | Cracked.com

 

[Seabass]

Re: American "Akira" coming 2011

I've been telling my friends this is going to be as bad as the Dragonball movie was, which they had hopes for right up till they actually saw it. Yea its on cracked, but its exactly what I really expected so I wouldnt be surprised if it was valid

 

[Sigma-LS]

Re: American "Akira" coming 2011

The way these things are done right is like the Magnificent Seven vs Seven Samurai. Otherwise nobody is happy.

 

[dbalschi]

Re: American "Akira" coming 2011

No more Keanu

Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news.

 

[ghostryder]

Warners greenlights 'Akira'; Hedlund front-runner - Entertainment News, EXCLUSIVE, Media - Variety

 

[pandatrooper]

Not much better than Zach Effron!

Seriously, this is the most basic thing ever: this was a manga / anime film. It takes place in Japan. The characters are Japanese. This needs to be a Japanese film (why not get the live action Battleship Yamato people to do it?).

Instead, they want Garrett Hedlund... Newsflash: Garrett Hedlund is NOT Japanese!!!!

 

[ave4uevoli]

I'm suprised they're doing this considering how well Dragonball, Godzilla, Chun Li, the Monkey King... etc. turned out.

 

[Nwerke]

It might be a fun flick. And they got Kaneda's superconducting electric two-wheel-drive bike-porn BMW actually built by BMW, which is nice. (Assuming they use it, and don't just scrap all the existing pre-prod. But with a $90M budget my guess is they'll be keen to use as much of the existing investment as they can...)

It just won't be Akira, is all. Kinda goes without saying.

 

[Wes R]

They should have just got the rights, made a totally new story and name and say it's BASED on Akira.

 

[Contec]

They should have just got the rights, made a totally new story and name and say it's BASED on Akira.

yeah, they could call it BKIRA....

 

[Nwerke]

I wonder if they'll film in Johannesburg? Things I always thought Neo Tokyo lacked were rusty chain-link fences, corrugated tin, baking sunlight, shanties, and dead animals.

Who will Garrett play - Ken Somebody? Ken Eden, maybe?

I've got it...Kenny Day! PERFECT!