Artist James Clyne (Avatar) recently posted the concept art he created for Warner Bros. stalled Akira live-action film. Clyne was brought on when director Ruairi Robinson was attached to the film. Since then, several other directors have came on gone, although most recently Jaume Collet-Serra said in an interview that he hopes Akira will be his next work. Maybe there’s still some hope left for the film?
ComingSoon.net published an exclusive interview with stalled Akira live-action film director Jaume Collet-Serra on Monday. In the interview, Collet-Serra gave his opinion on Katsuhiro Otomo’s original work, and it wasn’t exactly stellar. We posted part of the interview on January 10, but it turns out Collet-Serra had more thoughts on the project than just its production schedule.
[quote]ComingSoon: It’s one of those strange stories where you literally never see the main character [Akira] that is the namesake of the film! Collet-Serra: Nobody’s interesting. Tetsuo’s interesting because weird shit happens to him, and Kaneda is so two-dimensional. That’s part of the Japanese culture, they never have strong characters. They’re used as a way to move the other philosophy forward.[/quote]
When asked what Collet-Serra would like to bring to the live-action adaptation, he said, “I hope that I can bring strong characters. In the original source material, I don’t think the main characters are the protagonists. What I’m hoping is to bring characters.”
He also hopes to expand the film into a full trilogy.
[size=20]Director Collet-Serra Hopes Live-Action Akira Will Be His Next Work[/size] posted on 2014-02-10 13:31 EST Collet-Serra’s latest film, Non-Stop to open February 28
In interviews with entertainment news websites Collider and ComingSoon, director Jaume Collet-Serra, who was previously in talks to work on Warner Brothers’ stalled live-action Akira film project, mentioned that he’s still working on the film, and that he hopes it will be his next one.
Variety reported last August that Collet-Serra was possibly rejoining the project, stating that, if he returned, he would direct the project in Spring 2014. Warner stalled the project in 2012 to revise the script so it would be less costly. Akira manga creator and anime director Katsuhiro Otomo was reportedly going to oversee the project as executive producer.
Of the adaptation, Collet-Serra told ComingSoon that he will have to be “respectful of the source material” and that he hopes to “take the spirit of it and adapt it. It will be as different as the anime was from the manga.” Of the changes he hopes to make he said:
Collet-Serra has worked on two movies since his talks in August, the second of which, Non-Stop, will be out in theaters on February 28.
Update: Artist James Clyne posted concept art from an earlier version of the project.
After two years of planning and shooting, the results of the Akira Project have been revealed, and it’s pretty impressive. Started in June 2012 from an Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign, the Akira Project aimed to create a live-action fan trailer of Katsuhiro Otomo’s classic Akira.
Here’s the finished trailer:
The project creators have also released a Behind-the-Scenes “Production Journal” chronicling their efforts.
For more information about the project, check out the official website.
Harper recently wrote the screenplay for the live-action Edge of Tomorrow film, which is based on the novel All You Need Is Kill by Hiroshi Sakurazaka. The film stars Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Charlotte Riley, Kick Gurry, Bill Paxton, Kidus Henok, Tony Way, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste.
Variety reported last August that director Collet-Serra was possibly rejoining the project, stating that, if he returned, he would direct the project in Spring 2014. Collet-Serra mentioned in interviews in February that he hoped the film would be his next project. Warner stalled the project in 2012 to revise the script so it would be less costly. Akira manga creator and anime director Katsuhiro Otomo was reportedly going to oversee the project as executive producer.
Director Collet-Serra: No Progress on Live-Action Akira
posted on 2015-03-08 14:15 EDT
Jaume Collet-Serra, the proposed director of Warner Brothers’ stalled live-action Akira film project, told the Collider website that there is no progress on the project: "No, no. There’s nothing.” He added that he has not decided on his next movie since he just finished two movies (Non-Stop, Run All Night) in three years. When Collider asked if there is no hope for the Akira project, he responded, “It’s a Warner Bros. question.”
In interviews that Collider and the ComingSoon entertainment news website posted in February 2014, Collet-Serra mentioned that he had been still working on the project, and that he had hoped it will be his next one. Variety reported in August 2013 that Collet-Serra was possibly rejoining the project, stating that, if he returned, he would direct the project in Spring 2014.
Warner had stalled the project in 2012 to revise the script so it would be less costly. Akira manga creator and anime director Katsuhiro Otomo was reportedly going to oversee the project as executive producer. Before Collet-Serra, the stalled project would have involved actor Garrett Hedlund, writer Gary Whitta, and directors Ruairi Robinson and Albert Hughes, among other principals.
Just let it peacefully died. Besides we don’t need a licensed Akira movie. We have enought dystopian/post-apoc movies as is and with a new Blade Runner movie on the horizon, even less reasons for this.
And if they really want to do an Akira style movie, create one from scratch: ideas are free and universal. That’s how we got Pacific Rim and Sucker Punch. Can even give it a one name title: Stewart.
March 27, 2017 3:40am CDT
With Ghost In The Shell about to hit theaters, there’s new chatter about the Warner Bros adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo’s classic sci-fi Akira
