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It's Official - Live-Action Akira Confirmed Already for 2009!

by
February 20, 2008
Source: Variety

Akira

Back in October last year, we reported a rumor that the Japanese anime classic Akira would eventually be getting a live-action remake. We finally have official confirmation today that says there will not only be a new adaptation, but that it is being split into two movies! Warner Brothers has re-acquired the rights and is putting the first film into production right away, aiming to release the first movie by the summer of 2009. However, the film is primarily going to be adapted from anime artist Katsuhiro Otomo's graphic novel more than the original 1988 anime movie.

Warner Brothers exec Greg Silverman, who previously brought the studio 300 and Batman Begins, brought them Akira and encouraged them to obtain the rights. Although the studio let go of the rights a few years ago, they fought to gain them back in a bidding war, ending up paying in the seven-figures. The studio is describing the film as "Blade Runner meets City of God", which is a fairly fitting description for the story. Each movie will be based on three of the six volumes from Katsuhiro Otomo's graphic novel that was first published in 1982.

The two films will be directed by Irish filmmaker Ruairi Robinson who is making his feature debut after directing a number of short films and commercials. You can watch his 2006 short titled The Silent City on his website here. The script for the two films is being written by first-time screenwriter Gary Whitta.

Akira is a six-volume manga that was later adapted into an anime movie in 1988. The manga takes place in a vastly larger timeframe than the film and involves a far wider array of characters and subplots. Through the breadth of the work, Otomo explicates themes of social isolation, corruption and power. The original anime and and manga was set in Tokyo, but reports are saying this version will take place in "New Manhattan", a metropolis that was rebuilt after being destroyed 31 years ago. This isn't fully confirmed and we're doing our best to see if this is actually the case.

Kaneda is a bike gang leader whose close friend Tetsuo gets involved in a government secret project known as Akira. On his way to save Tetsuo, Kaneda runs into a group of anti-government activists, greedy politicians, irresponsible scientists and a powerful military leader. The confrontation sparks off Tetsuo's supernatural power leading to bloody death, a coup attempt and the final battle in Tokyo Olympiad where Akira's secrets were buried 30 years ago.

I said it before when talking about the rumor, but this is going to make for one awesome live-action movie. Not only am I a big fan of the anime movie, but there are so many great action scenes, like the futuristic motorcycle chases, that could be amazing in the movie. I'm only concerned that they won't give this duo of films the proper budget that they really need, especially with a first-time feature filmmaker working on them. Whatever the case is, I'll hope for the best!

Akira

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167 Comments

1

I hope it's equally as fucked up as the original animated feature

Alexander on Feb 20, 2008

2

"I hope it's equally as fucked up as the original animated feature" Very apt, here is his first short film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoyxuCVJCwI

Ry on Feb 20, 2008

3

This movie is being rushed badly and they are getting someone who has never directed a feature film in his life. This movie is supposedly set in manhattan and hence i declare this will flop miserably.

Jojo on Feb 20, 2008

4

OMG! My dream (was and still is) to be Movie Director. And part of that was so I could do a live action AKIRA. CURSES!!! *shakes fist* Someone else will get the chance to have a go at it. I just hope the y dont mess it up and do a good job adapting the more intricate manga details. ...*shakes fist some more*

Huck Paletos on Feb 21, 2008

5

Oh... and a live action Mokey Island too.

Huck Paletos on Feb 21, 2008

6

Well this will kick some major ass right here, but what is all this NEW MANHATTAN bull. I want NEO TOKYO, not some crap New York, I want Tokyo. Also DiCaprio better not play Kanaeda I guess I'm ok with Joseph Gordon Levitt as Tetsuo though. I just wish it was being done in Asia and by Asian actors and asian director

Matiss Berger on Feb 21, 2008

7

New Manhattan? NEW FUCKING MANHATTAN!?!? Bullshit! It's NEO-TOKYO DAMMIT! The directors live short seemed really cool, (I almost think he should be attached to the Halo project...) But this will really cause some problems with the purists. ( I had the same initial reaction when Constantine was going to be set in L.A. instead of England like the original comic.) And if it's set in Manhattan, why the hell would the final battle be in Tokyo? Hell, If the actors/characters aren't going to be asian, why not just anglicize the whole damn thing & call it JIMMY! You wouldn't remake Shaft with a white boy would you? Rant over. Sorry. Bad day at work & then I get to come home to this...

jason_md2020 on Feb 21, 2008

8

Man, I'm getting flack for all these little errors recently, eh? Jason, that came from Variety, and I think what they meant was A New Manhattan, not THE New Manhattan. Or... I hope this isn't the case, maybe they mean that this live-action version, which is going to star new American actors, will take place in a New Manhattan instead of Tokyo... Sort of an Americanized, contemporary Akira. Well crap, that sounds terrible!

Alex Billington on Feb 21, 2008

9

Ok. I just pulled this from SciFi.com: "The new story moves the action to "New Manhattan," a city rebuilt by the Japanese. The studio is eyeing a summer 2009 release for the first movie." Manhattan. Rebuilt by the Japanese. What the...that's kinda backwards...Why not just use Tokyo? I've just shifted gears from pissed to confused.

jason_md2020 on Feb 21, 2008

10

Thinking of a giant CGI Tetsuo-blob makes me want to vomit.

Brad on Feb 21, 2008

11

I guess Hollyweird is running out of ideas.

Samantha on Feb 22, 2008

12

Jason, yea, interesting about New Manhattan... I'm not really sure and now I'm going to try and figure out if they mean that this new movie will take place in New Manhattan or if they just screwed up and really meant Tokyo...

Alex Billington on Feb 22, 2008

13

I heard Laurence Fishburne talking about being in this along time ago.

Will on Feb 22, 2008

14

Wow, never thought I'd see that day that they did this. First off, they ARE going to ruin this movie. It's a given. The pure, raw feeling of the original Akira movie is not something that can be achieved in a live action. And, if anyone has read the 6 volumes of the original illustrated Akira, one can't possibly adapt the corruption, power, and greed of the original to the big screen. It's just not going to happen. I hate to be so pessimistic but the utter thought of them trying to make gold a brighter shade of gold sickens me. Here's to you Warner Bros., don't Americanize an art of outstanding quality.

Tressley on Feb 22, 2008

15

is kanye west going to play tetsuo again?

kanye on Feb 22, 2008

16

Iv been writing a script for this movie based on the 6 novels for over a year now. My one concern if anyone got to it before me was will it be Tokyo? This confirms my fears, it won't be Tokyo. Why the fuck Manhattan? Why does Hollywood always have to adapt movies to America and fuck them over? The movie is based in Neo-Tokyo not MANHATTAN! GOD DAMNIT! GOD DAMNIT!

Volker on Feb 22, 2008

17

I suppose the studio is desperately trying to save money by not having to do ANY location shots/research in Tokyo and pouring the dough on CG-effects instead :p As a NY-er & Manhattanite I'm getting rather tired of having my city destroyed YET again...but what can you do? I hope at least the studio will try to make the city look as authentic as possible (I particularly despise Spidey's Manhattan subway scenes- even Die Hard and the comic books did better) And the lack of young US-bankable Asian actors should really not stop the studio from at least trying to cast one for the title role, if at least for the sake of worldwide sales. (300 had no big names either...and did v well worldwide)

kirillian on Feb 22, 2008

18

it's going to suck

amerian on Feb 22, 2008

19

Oh god I hope they don't go with a 'New Manhattan". What would be served by using such a sterile American city (Especially if it has nothing to do with the movie or novel). Is it to further the stereotype that Americans are insular, soulless droids who have never even HEARD of Tokyo? You might as well put the thing in Salt Lake City. 'Blade Runner' my ass. They're thinking of Blade Runner all right! Thinking how it was panned by critics at the time for being too cerebral, too... 'sci fi', and what can they do to make the new Akira more 'accessible'. In 30 years we'll get 'Akira: Final Cut' or something.

altgeeky1 on Feb 22, 2008

20

It would be racist to take this story away from a Japanese cast/POV.

Astro Boy on Feb 22, 2008

21

I am smelling the croc-o-crap stewing and bubbling as we speak. There is no way in hell Hollywood is going to make this a true Akira story. They will "americanize" the crap out of it. It WILL be toned down to PG-13 (Yuck!!!!) levels just to make sure everyone can go see it. Just the fact that they are already messing with the country it takes place , it will be a sure fire indication that this movie will be hated by the true fans. The idiots that have never seen Akira anime will probably love this movie because they wont have a reference point. Remember Fist of the Northstar?? That was the vilest crappiest anime to films ever done. My expectations in story are low low low. The special effects will probably be ok. The only way this movie will ever be up to par with the anime is if they gave the original Akira creators an unlimited budget with no say-so whatsoever from the studio execs. Those exec morons are overflowing with cash yet they have no appreciation or the spine to remake a proper product like Akira. My friends I hate to say this, but movies from hollywood are no longer made for the love of the art. They are making them in the hopes a tidal wave of cash hits the pockets of the studio. When greed is a driving factor behind making a movie, dissapointments are guaranteed to happen. I am affraid Hollywood is trying to cash in due to the popularity of the original. They have definetly gone too far this time. What is next Spriggan live action? I am so angry at the notion that they are about to film an average movie and dare to slap a monumental tittle like Akira on it. I am truly sick to my stomach. Pepto any one?

Cisco Pagan on Feb 22, 2008

22

I once read an article saying that Sony estimated back in 1992 that a live action Akira would take $300 million and ditched the project. Budget problems might reduce gloss.. But i sincerely hope they tell story well and keep that oh to awesome pace and background score style. Oh and if your right and it is in 'New Manhattan' then the movie will lose 2/3rds of its cool.

Adiace on Feb 22, 2008

23

There is absolutelly no way this movie is gonna end up right. They would need to have Katsuhiro Otomo himself pulling the string on this whole thing. Not with all the fortune of WB and all other movie producers "combined" Western directors and producers are totally incapable of delivering such a complex movie as Akira. Not a chance in a trillion. Not in any epoch in history, from now forward. This is going to suck big time. big time I say. Being a Akira fan since the original Manga came out in Japan I dismiss this marketing effort completely as utterly non-sense and a disrespect.

AkitaOnRails on Feb 22, 2008

24

I am so FUCKING TIRED of Manhattan/New York.

fuck new york on Feb 22, 2008

25

Reading through these, a few of the major complaints and ways to fix them: - Live action can't reproduce the feeling of the original manga + Use non-photorealistic techniques not unlike what was seen in Sin-City. Preserves the surrealism and the imagination as well as affording the director full control over how neo-Tokyo is presented (not in a George Lucas let's use crappy Cg instead of actors sort of way) Sin City was a trip and a half. No reason Akira can't be as well. - Neo Manhatten + What the?!...why Manhattan instead of Tokyo? It's rebuilt by the Japanese, no? Why are the Japanese rebuilding Manhattan? Is this to allow the plot to be spun into some real-world paralleled version that reveals the profound opinions of truth held by the producer, who wants to demonstrate how the lessons of Akira would fix the problems of the US? It's quite an obvious adaptation to the changed mood of the planet. Instead of cyberpunk era Japan on a technological ascendence to world executor head-hancho, we're stuck with US having a stick thrust into it's eye and misbehaving in the face of it. However, this interpretation of the tune of the day begs the question, has the person who made this call actually been to Tokyo!? Go to Shinjuku, Shibuya, Akiba etc etc. Then go hang around in Manhatten. End of discussion. Unless I'm overlooking a masterful bit of irony. Perhaps the producer is aiming to explore the cultural differences between Ireland, US, and Japan by demonstrating how an Irish guy would depict Japanese people attempting to rebuild a US city for the poeple they imagine United Statesians to be. Isn't that a totally off the wall concept? Let's go smoke a few more joints and see if we can make it stick in Moscow rebuilt by the French! Enough on that topic. Neo-Tokyo. I've never seen or read Akira, but it sounds pretty awesome. Lost in translation was a success, no? Babel got really good reviews no? People -can- read subtitles, right? This move can and should be done in Tokyo in a Japanese context with Japanese actors (or at the very least speaking gaijingo). (For the love of God, not like Memoirs of a Geisha.)

Knapp on Feb 22, 2008

26

I AM TIRED OF EVERYTHING I EVER LOVED BEING REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE AND REMADE

Ugh Ugh on Feb 22, 2008

27

Waitaminnit. I just re-read the blurb I posted from SciFi. "The studio is eyeing a summer 2009 release for the first movie." Read that again closely: "The studio is eyeing a summer 2009 release for the FIRST movie." They're already planning sequels?!?! Or they realized the manga's complexity, and decided to break it into seperate films like LOTR did.

jason_md2020 on Feb 22, 2008

28

Every cent spent on this will be one to many, it's going to suck and blow at the same time. Leave to original be *ssh*les!

Zerge on Feb 22, 2008

29

Registered just to say.. "Manhattan? Man-fucking-hattan? First time director? Film being rushed? Possibly having a crappy budget? C'mon guys. We all know where this is going to lead to... The bottom of the toilet..." Hate to be a pessimist but some directors rarely ever seem to appropriately grasp the anime/manga feel. Thank the robotic overlords that they can't get their hands on the Macross(JP) series. Well most of it. Toby has Robotech...damn you Toby.

Epoch on Feb 22, 2008

30

I don't care if the failling american cinema industry can only survive at the moment by making: (1) REMAKES (ok some extremely rare guys like Tarantino do make good stuff out of it) (2) SEQUELS (yes! franchise security, people will see it! profit!) (3) ADAPTATIONS (the only one not to entirely suck was the LotR trilogy) I don't care if they are making a dragonball movie, because it was for testosterone filled 12 year olds to start with. Transformers: suckage adapted into... worse suckage. But butchering Akira, a 2500 page masterpiece, one of the best manga/comics ever written? Even the adaptation into anime by the author himself was not entirely satisfying, mainly due to the very difficuly task of packing a massive amount of content into a shorter film format (cutting out subplots, themes, characters and locations), making the main characters feel somewhat empty and paper thin. In new york???? With a first-time screenwriter and director? Oh, I can't wait to hear who is being cast for the main roles... The only good anime-style film I have seen hollywood produce was the Matrix trilogy (and the 2 sequels were sub-par storywise, although technologically amazing). sigh....

Val on Feb 22, 2008

31

WOW...they are destroying the god of all anime and manga. if it wasnt for akira, anime wont be what it is today. if remaking somthing that is a LEGEND, at least keep it how it is the manga and give it the respect it deserves. cant handle the pressure, time and money...dont even do it at all. please dont be cheap hollywood.

android5664 on Feb 23, 2008

32

I love the animated movie and would not what to see an live action version it will suck!

RNS on Feb 23, 2008

33

Why not a live-action of The Schtroumpfs? or Bug's life?? ....this is really annoying, theses producers or big companies who just want profits and don't care about the film they give to direct bye another YES-MAN....this is a bad new.

Deny on Feb 25, 2008

34

The original Akira is one of my favorite movies of all times. That movie inspired me to get into illustration and adopt a lifestyle that includes sport bikes. You could say it changed my life. Now I fear a remake could make me want to sell my motorbike, take down my Akira posters and give away my Akira collectibles. A full CG movie faithful to the original story-line might have been nice. A butchered live action remix... damn. I hope they can pull a rabbit out of their hats.

Magic on Feb 25, 2008

35

Man, I hope Katsuhiro Otomo's standing right next to this Ruairi Robinson chap the whole time he's in the director's chair, just to smack him upside the head anytime he does anything stupid. Not to say that this whole idea sounds a little insane. And where's this info on "New Manhattan"? THAT is a really DUMB idea. A remake shouldn't be a re-write, not for something like Akira. It might have worked for some people with 2007's 'Transformers', but you STILL made their purists raise an eyebrow... It's like this... People liked Transformers as a toy line, a cartoon, and a 1986 animated movie. Then the 07 Michael Bay film comes out and goes 'oh hey, let's completely turn them into crumpled up aluminum-foil robots and change everything, so anyone who just stumbles onto this franchise for the first time will only remember THIS, and nothing before it". That ain't gonna work with Akira. I really don't think it will. So if anyone in WARNER BROS. is listening; If you're really thinking of setting this in fucking New York (like EVERYTHING ELSE) with a non-Asian cast... PLEASE DON'T DO THIS.

Fossil on Feb 25, 2008

36

http://www.ruairirobinson.com/contact.htm someone bug the director 😛

kanye on Feb 25, 2008

37

everyone bug the director =D

Knapp on Feb 25, 2008

38

Oh yeah. Almost forgot...Don't you think it's ironic that a guy who was nominated for an Oscar for an animated short, is given directorship of a live action adaptation of an animation? Hopefully his animation experience will help it not suck...

jason_md2020 on Feb 25, 2008

39

WHY?!!?! I totally agree with what everybody is saying. This is actually quite sickening. What the frigg is up with Hollywood and pumping out endless remakes and adaptations? I really DO NOT see any benefit what-so-ever in making a live action adaptation of an animated feature. It simply does not convert. Animation offers so much more, its a gateway to imagination, anything is possible, anything can be made in any form. You can break the laws of reality. Converting an animation into live action is just so backwards. I am an animation student, myself and my fellow coursemates will each squeeze a tear out over this. We all need to campaign against remakes and other such acts of utter dogshite unoriginality.

HNNNNGGGGGHHHHH! on Feb 25, 2008

40

Hollywood you've raped my childhood. this ruined my day, that and the dragon ball movie which is casted with all asians except for goku who is played by some white kid

bleh on Feb 26, 2008

41

You know, I feel some people are jumping the gun a little here. All we have so far is a press release with possibilities of "New Manhattan." Look, there have been press releases for all sorts of movies that went down the tubes before, and even during pre-production. Remember Tim Burton's Superman project? They a script, a cast (Nick Cage as Superman, remember?) had posters, a release date, and apparently a prototype costume in the works. WB realized the fans didn't like the idea of an American icon being turned into a goth sci-fi and the project was pulled. You can still find posters on e-bay occasionally. Or how about Green Lantern, Aquaman, Captain America. All scrapped in pre-production (aquaman was scrapped after a pilot episode was filmed). Of course, there's always the possibility of production hell happening. It's already happened once with this movie. And it happened with Iron Man, X-Men, Spider-Man, I Am Legend, The Simpsons Movie, Transformers, etc. When something is being created off of a popular franchise, eventually someone takes notice. Look at Batman. Batman & Robin got made even though the fans didn't care for Batman Forever and were loudly opposed to George Clooney as Bruce Wayne. But the movie was made, it sucked, and it has kind of been forgotten. The only Batman movies anyone remembers pre-Batman Begins are the ones with Michael Keaton. It took a while before they found a director who could handle the material, but look at how good Batman Begins turned out. And the studios wanted a continuation of the first four, but not every hollywood director is evil. I'm sure if nothing else, this movie will come out, it will be mildly good for people who have never seen Akira (98% of America), and a fan following will happen, resulting in new fans of the original, who will get pissed off, and some studio will buy the rights and do it again, but correctly. A good movie is made because someone cares enough about the material to do the right thing with it. I'm sure someone will do it right eventually. Personally, I think they should just remaster the original cartoon and release that. It would be cheaper and better. If they're adamant about spending money, they can get a crack team of skilled artists to re-synch the mouths to the english dialogue. The technology is there. But that's just me. -Matt

Matt on Feb 26, 2008

42

Yeah great, I allready found the official Movie Poster aka ~_° http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/7413/akirafightformahattanqm1.jpg

Sheeshor on Feb 27, 2008

43

I will rip my ears off and sting my eyes out to not get any thing related to that movie into my brain. I fear the truth! http://flickr.com/photos/ichbinadrian/2297455593/

adrian on Feb 28, 2008

44

If they're going to change the setting to New Manhattan, they might as well change the title character's name to "John". Fucking shit. Katsuhiro Otomo provided everything you need- well developed characters, accurately designed future Tokyo, drugged out street hooligans and government experimented psychics. Do you really expect ANYBODY on Earth to believe that the American Government would put money into researching telekinetics and/or esp? That is SO Japanese it's not even FUNNY! I swear these Hollywood script dealers are just like the Bonds tradesmen in "Wall Street": they come in and buy up some natural resource (Otomo's creative Vision), under the guise that they'll do something with it, then they profit from selling it to someone who will do nothing with it but turn it to shit. FUCK HOLLYWOOD!

Djoser on Mar 2, 2008

45

I think Jack Nicholson's Joker said it best... "This town needs an enema!"

TCox on Mar 4, 2008

46

A little massage to Gary Whitta and Ruairi Robinson... DON'T FUCK THIS UP.

Manga fan on Mar 6, 2008

47

This will rule, the original sucked

Awesome! on Mar 8, 2008

48

Wow. This would be awesome. I first picked up on the manga in a magazine and ended up buying the whole 6-volume graphic novel before I ever saw the film... the film was nice and all, but like a lot of anime adaptions cut a bit short and mangled the story (which was the particular driving force - it would be gripping even as a written novel), and was pushing the boundaries of the animated medium / limited by it at the time (any by cash), despite the nice eye candy. With the current state of the art, this should be epic, particularly as they seem to intend to give it the full Lord of the Rings rather than a hack job. One point though - if it IS set in the states (give me a break, if you're going to change it, make it interesting, not New York YET AGAIN - how about New Berlin, Delhi, Brisbane, or even Chicago or something? or here's an idea, keep it as Tokyo!), they HAVE TO CHANGE THE CHARACTER NAMES. They seem quite exotic to english speaking ears, but in japanese they're everyday, normal names - including the title, which was chosen as such. In baby naming terms, it pretty much translates as "John" or "Stephen"... Maybe they should even retitle the film 🙂

Mark P on Mar 13, 2008

49

Whoops, that's what I get for not reading the ENTIRE thread (its a bit long, hehe) before posting. Looks like someone made much the same post as me a little ways up ---- where's the edit/delete button?

Mark P on Mar 13, 2008

50

> 41 (matt) > [Fans will get pissed, a better remake will be made] Kind of like the two versions of The Hulk, with a second and supposedly better one in the works that's completely unrelated to the dross that was released a couple years ago? > [Remaster, re dub & re release original anime] Already happened, I'm afraid. Mixed reviews. > Transformers Enough said, though I disagree on the "take trash, make it trashier" comment. The reason a lot of people were hot for the live action version, and were disappointed by the Bay interpretation, is that the original movie was actually quite good, particularly given it was a cheaply hacked-together 90-minute advert for a cash-in toy line 🙂 Decent characterisation (including the fairly sympathetic ones of Prime and Megatron - the big fall down of the live action one was what a complete non-event their climactic battle turned out to be) and scripting, plot twists, collaborations and betrayals, nice pace, fun and engaging action in equal measures, nice and arguably quite realistic robot designs (within the fanciful transformer concept, anyway), didn't spoil it by focussing on some idiot love story subplot amongst the otherwise fairly ineffectual humans.... (indeed the human characters only did one or two significant things through the whole film, and the female characters were limited to robot personas.. in fact.. only one of them 😀 well it was the 80s). And enjoyable cheesy music that integrated well without reaching disney levels of cringe! Yeah it was ultimately a cheap cartoon, but some of the people involved seem to have done a Pixar and tried to sneak a bit of soul, art and adult interest into it by the back door. Now, having finally read the rest of this thread, excuse me while I go cower behind the sofa at the self-imagined idea of someone picking up on and attempting to make a live-action My Neighbour Totoro remake *shudder* (Though I'd support a Laputa one - it was about as live-action a film as its possible to get whilst still making a cartoony animation, none of it would have been beyond film-makers from the time of Star Wars. Nowadays it should be possible to make an awesome one)

Mark P on Mar 13, 2008

51

Live-Actrion Akira? In "New Manhattan" ? It´ll sux !!!

golan_trevize on Mar 15, 2008

52

"Action" without "R" 😛

golan_trevize on Mar 15, 2008

53

I really couldn't care what the Americans are doing to Akira. I am fan of the original stuff (manga and anime) so they can destroy it all they like, make it as western as they like and pervert the story to the best of their abilities, makes no difference to me. Only way WB could ruin my experience as an Akira fan is if they came round to my house burnt all the Akira stuff and then proceeded to do this to everyone and everywhere that may stock Akira goodies. Film makers, script writers and directors have been doing it forever, re-making and re-telling old stories, this is no different. Best advice is to let it pass you by. Its happened before, this is happening and it wil happen again. Just like they ruined Resident Evil. Does it make the game bad...nope just makes them look like idiots for not being able to tell a story thats already been written for them. The more they mess up legendary stories, the more they look like tossers. Just sit back let it disapear in the two months it lives and then watch as everyone forgets about it and only remembers the original any way. Try buying the dvd crossing out the title and put 'Manhattan: The Silent City' and see if you enjoy it for what it is a film that is not Akira.

Dean on Mar 18, 2008

54

AMEN DEAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! lOL esp love manhattan: The silent city, very clever lol. Shame really cos when you actually see how hes directed the silent city could of been a good director...but this is most likely going to butt rape his carrer wildly

Emily Miles on Mar 18, 2008

55

if you go to his site and scroll down, he talks about his ego engulfing tokyo.. and shows a picture of the nuke goin off in akira. not once, but twice http://www.ruairirobinson.com/main.htm ..looks like he was hinting at something.

mike on Mar 19, 2008

56

I'm perfectly prepared to give him a fair chance to make it good ... and it won't ruin the original for me directly, as you correctly state it's impossible. But if it WAS stuffed up, it could further spoil it in a lot of peoples minds - it would be nice if the original, even-bigger-than-the-anime vision could gain a bit of credibility (yes, ok, it doesn't impinge on my life directly, but neither does Darfur or the other things that charities I meagrely support deal with - I still have a part of my brain that's concerned with them). Wouldn't it be great if the film adaptions of Tomb Raider, Resident Evil and Final Fantasy had actually been fuckin' awesome and done even a little bit of justice to the original to stop those particular canons, and by exension anyone interested in them, from becoming figures of fun? Plus it may spoil the chances of any such thing being attempted again by someone who knows what the bloody hell they're doing, or the cause of getting neat eastern stuff imported in a professional manner. It took a hell of a fanbase fight to get the Ghibli back catalogue beyond the status of a lacklustre first edition of Princess Mononoke, a couple carelessly produced VHSes of Totoro and Kiki, and no recourse but expensive untranslated imports or legally questionable fansubs/dubs and bootlegs of old deleted hack-job english versions for all the other titles. Don't need it getting a kick in the teeth just when it's gained a small shred of credibility (which Naruto, Yu gi oh and the endless shelves of saccharine, dinnerplate-eyes pulp manga may themselves destroy). (that observation came from me ending up in a Borders bookshop last week for the first time ever, looking for birthday gifts - they have an unexpectedly HUGE manga section ... most of it's dreadful generic badly drawn/scripted/translated pulp on the theme of mindless violence/brainless slushy romance/merchandisable object collection, as is the way, but there was a "Remembering Akira" art book that was a sheer joy to flick through; I'd forgotten the unique *artistry* that had gone into the covers, and to see the concept work and the creators' own thoughts annotating them was pretty cool - may end up buying it)

Mark P on Mar 25, 2008

57

also re - foreshadowing ... that WAS jan '07, so maybe he was hinting at something he'd just been in discussion about, or maybe he's just an Akira fan anyway and needed something suitably epic and easy to Google to show his enormous ego 🙂 that wasn't the same old tired hiroshima / atom bomb test photograph. let's hope the massive ego steers in the direction of "I'm going to be as faithful to the source as is practical whilst still making it work" instead of "hey, let's completely and utterly remake it in my own image!" when he starts exercising his egotistical director's I'm Right, You're Wrong, Deal With It muscles. btw, the entire of Silent City is apparently uploaded on that site if anyone wants to watch it. no need to bother with DVD unless you're on one of those evil 1Gb/month max transfer broadband plans. (lol @ those - I used to be able to get thru 2gb/week on unmetered dialup with napster back in the day)

Mark P on Mar 25, 2008

58

i only hope they keep the names motorcycles hair and story the same because i hate when they change everything except for the characters personality i didnt pay to see a renamed fan fic god i hate fan fics

patrick on Apr 3, 2008

59

It's in the US because of location convinence...perhaps some 9/11 references in there as well due to all the explosions and war..

Akira on Apr 14, 2008

60

Oh god I hope not. That would be lazy and extra cheesy/sucktacular/infuriatingly US-centric. Would you like an extra helping of militaristic patriotism on your fries? Fuck that shit. It was originally written to be so far into the future, and following such a cataclysmic event, that any of the petty conflicts that we're currently experiencing anywhere in the world (which, do not kid yourself, are far larger and nastier than anything that's happened on American soil / in US airspace since WW2 (if you count the pacific islands conflict) / the civil war (if you don't)) With any luck the fact that there's an irishman at the helm may help ameliorate that nonsense a bit. You get a couple little planes going into a couple buildings and everyone can't stop whining on about it and using it as a catch-all excuse for all manner of crap for years later. I'm sick & tired of it, and particularly it will be sad if it's used as a lazy excuse to wreck what could, with the proper care and respect, be an absolutely ass-kicking film.

MP on Apr 18, 2008

61

ahem, that's what i get for retrospective editing and nested parentheses..... * "that any of the petty conflicts we're currently experiencing anywhere in the world [...] look like pointless backyard squabbles in comparison and are largely forgotten in the face of it, like the Boer war vs the great conflicts of 1914-18 and 1939-45" and also "STILL far nastier" my kingdom for an edit button, etc.

MP on Apr 18, 2008

62

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/clt/659953903.html Check out the pics of Kanye West on the Akira Kaneda motorcycle.

BMH on Apr 29, 2008

63

I don’t know why Hollywood is doing this but I say that never going to happened. For two reason why: 1.The reason why because all the AKIRA fans out there love the art work of the movie and the monga, it’s sort saying that Hollywood is taking thing away from Katsuhiro Otomo, that he worked so hard to make a film, he going to be piss-off from Hollywood. And beside if there planning of making live Acton film, were can they get the music group? Not GEINOH YAMASHIROGUMI, that for sure. 2. In the same year there going to be a Live action movie DRAGONBALL, and people are getting mix-ups by these Two film going on. Plush a lot of people said that AKIRA is like DRAGONBALL, NO, IT IS NOT! Just because Kaneda and Tetsuo are the same as Goku and Vegeta doesn’t mean that they are same. All I’m saying that people are not ready for AKIRA in Live Acton yet, and some believe that Katsuhiro Otomo is still making a sequel, I believe that if someone has an idea for the movie, that will be great. P.S. if you a fan of AKIRA art work chick out these website (sorry some are Japanese’s only). http://www.cataclysm.2fear.com/ http://www1.odn.ne.jp/cbt14030/ http://tikuzenni.fc2web.com/

lizardkyrieann on May 10, 2008

64

I don't have a problem with hollywood adapting great anime/manga to live-action films. However Hollywood is really pissing me off with the castings for these films. You know what I'm talking about if you've ever seen the americanized versions of Japanese horror films (The Ring, The Grudge, etc.). They take white/American actors and stick them in place of the Japanese ones. I mean DeCaprio for God's sake! Aren't the characters supposed to be teenagers. If you want to stay true to the source material, or even truly respect it, please keep the actors the original ethnicity, or at least the correct damn age. A big part of most Anime/Manga had to do with Japanese culture and adapting it to fit America will leave a lot lost in the process.

LSulla on May 15, 2008

65

Did anyone else just want to die after hearing this? I wonder how The Japanese feel about this. I mean, how would America feel if the Japs took Disney's Snow White, re-located it to Japan & did it in live action? 2009 is gonna be series of travesties. Hollywood will be murdering Dragon Ball & Akira all in the same year? That's just cruel. These films are going to suck on such an epic scale that they may very well kill the American love for anime altogether that has grown in the last 10 years. That's a good thing for me though. I saw the screen shots for the latest X-Men cartoon & was like WTF? Since when did Marvel ok Amerime versions of their classic shit? You can't turn on the TV now days without seeing some shitty half assed American knock off of anime. I really am sad though that they're going to adapt Akira. Akira is not just a summer movie. It's a fucking legend. I too took up the pens, pencils, & tone paper because of that anime & manga. I too grew into a lifestyle of fast bikes, & good times because of Akira. The Akira anime is the film I usually use to introduce noobs to anime in general. My step dad was like WTF is up with this anime crap you're into? I made him watch Akira & he said, "Wow, I'm really sorry. I had now idea how incredible some of this stuff was!" This is the story I've used time & time again to show how awesome anime is. For some one to hand this to a noob director, & then to relocate the story just tells me that this is going to seriously make those of us that have been fans since we were children seriously sad. I'm not even angry about Akira, I'm just sad.

Max on May 16, 2008

66

Personally, if the movie will be based in New Manhattan and use American actors and actresses, I won't bother wasting my money seeing it in the theater. In fact, I will just wait for one of my friends to pick it up on bootleg and watch that as a protest to the butchery of this masterpiece. I'm keeping my fingers crossed though. I have similar thoughts on the Dragonball movie but I really like that director because of his past work. We will see how that goes.

Q on May 17, 2008

67

This movie has a better chance of setting anime back in N. America than it does in helping it's cause. This would not be the first mang/anime movie I would try to make into live action. The social and political dilemas in the manga and the amazing fast paced scenes that are in the anime movie are not going to be transferred well to the live action big screen I fear. This would be far better suited to being remade in the style of FFVII Advent Children rather than live action. If you want to take an anime movie an try and popularize it here, try Perfect Blue instead. Much easier to transfer over to live action. I suspect Akira to do well because of the people who don't know about it, but the people who have read/watched this in it's other mediums will probably be in for a huge dissapointment.

Adam on May 23, 2008

68

I'm not very impressed if they're going to americanize this movie... even americans wouldn't be happy with this... it'll lose a lot of it's meaning when set in America. Hmmph. Keep it Japanese or leave this one alone.

David on May 28, 2008

69

Hollywood will screw this up... Just look at the new Gi Joe and DragonBall pics.... Speilberg will screw up Ghost in the Shell, Cameron will screw up Battle Angel - let the Japanese do the Japanimation... I can imagine it now....Akira. starring Shia LeBouf as Kenada.. hmmmmm...... Id rather eat a pack of Newports than stomach that.

holynerd on May 30, 2008

70

I really hope that Hollywood won't destroy a classic. The fact that some one would turn it into a live action make me a little sick. Akira was the reason that I got into anime and I would hate if it was butchered. This movie deserves a huge budget a very good director. I hope they don't do same thing they did with Speedracer,made me vomit.

Outcast on Jun 6, 2008

71

A great live-action film of the Akira story could be made, but judging from his previous work, not by Ruairi Robinson. He may have a talent for effects, but he hasn't shown any evidence of great storytelling, nor a flair for direction either. Also, Akira seems to trade on particularly Japanese myths and culture, which would most likely be lost or subsumed to America's land of Christianity-based lore. if James Cameron was making this in 3-D, I'd be excited, or Alfonso Cuaron or any capable director. As is, its best not to get your hopes up. This will most likely be another incomprehensible, CGI-laden witless remake to go into the bulging pile.

James T on Jun 17, 2008

72

Ok, to be honest the point isn't who is directing the film or who's producing it etc. It's the simple fact that Akira is an expression of Japanese culture, as is Ghost in the Shell. These films hold a strong message and put forth very interesting questions. Akira brings up politics and the Japanese government and many other aspects that to me...can only be done by the Japanese! But I don't think they would even try and direct a live-action film. That's just me though but really it's just the companies who get the rights and sell them to the highest bidder outside of Japan. Like with GITS Production I.G. actually acquired the rights from Kodansha and now we're going to have yet another American adaptation of a work of art that is based in another culture. I just don't get it but you know I think the Japanese are great at what they do and it's like when another culture tries to write great manga it just doesn't feel the same. GITS and Akira are two very important and groundbreaking works in manga and anime. Many manga-ka are inspired by these works and to me should never be made into live-action anything. But the Neon Genesis Evangelion live-action film is a whole other story and that one makes the most upset. Oh well, they're going to do it regardless but I won't be standing in line.

Onizuka on Jul 22, 2008

73

>>Holynerd ... yikes, that's a scary thought (SLB as Kaneda)... he may be a decent actor in a few years, and was possibly Transformers' one saving grace (at least if you believe my bro), but not for that role, not now. He only seems to have one emotion ("an air of faint terror"), for a start, and although K isn't exactly the broadest of characters, he does at least have terror AND overwhelming anger. I hope you were just kidding - there must be someone better. Also Spielberg for GitS, I hadn't heard that. Oh dear. I think a lot of SS's films are fantastic, and I even liked Indy 4 for which I got a bit of flak... but his style so completely isn't right for Ghost. Unless he proves himself to have even more flexibility than shown in his prior career, that will be nasty. However, James Cameron doing Battle Angel COULD be spot on the money. That's definitely a case of right style, right title, right director, if it HAS to be done in Hollywood, then his name would definitely be on the shortlist. Post apocalyptic dystopia, killer robots AND an emotional undercurrent with the odd splash of faint humour just to stop it getting absolutely maudlin? Check, check, check. Onizuka has hit on one of the core reasons as to why these (four? five???) coming anime/manga adaptions need to be studied with interest though.... the old idiot-proof sticker of "Warning: If you change something, IT BECOMES DIFFERENT" - and therein unless you're careful about WHAT you change and how, it could lose the essential magic that made it awesome, incredibly popular and made you want to adapt it in the first place. My first dose of Akira was actually through the comics, not the film, and it became something of a cultural experience as well as an enthralling story and work of art. Ghost, less so, it could basically be given the Matrix treatment (such as the Watchowskis were basically aiming for anyway), but something so wound into a place and its history and projected near-future would be difficult to disentangle without breaking some of the threads. ...... and then part of me starts to wonder what Ursula le Guin fans think of the Miyazaki version of Wizard of Earthsea 🙂 (or indeed, what fans of the classics may think of his Sherlock Hound, or the French Canadian-Japanese DiC's treatment of The Odyssey and The Five Cities Of Gold, etc - this stuff DOES happen in both directions!)

Tahrey on Jul 23, 2008

74

wow an akira live action movie! the way that i think it can be pulled it off is only if a true fan can make the decent comic-anime to live-action transition. first stay true to the original as with lord of the rings. second i believe de caprio can pull it off playing a half japanese kaneda. as kaneda looks white anyways check out david carradine on 'king fu'. third if the budget is too tight for shooting in tokyo. i would recommend set location filming in rizal avenue 9:00 pm in manila, philippines. with its traffic, neon lit hundred year old buildings, modern metropolitan-city retrofits, custom scooter minibikes weaving in and out of traffic. eerily similar to ridley scotts los angeles 2019 run amok (minus the spinners).

regoob on Jul 26, 2008

75

So it seems that one of the best sci-fis to ever be written, drawn and animated has been bought and extremely Americanized....New-Manhattan.....

Xavier Garnier on Jul 29, 2008

76

"Stay original ... as with Lord of the Rings" ... hahahahahahaha! Ahem. Yes. Obviously not familiar with the conspiracy re: some of the changes and omissions that Jackson made.

Tahrey on Jul 31, 2008

77

I mean controversy of course. D'oh.

Tahrey on Jul 31, 2008

78

jason_md2020 u hit the nail one the JIMMY head....... Ive always wanted to see a akira movie but i always know if it diddnt have a whopping buget is would suck!

age111 on Aug 6, 2008

79

Okay, there changing Neo Tokyo to New Manhattan. Are they gonna change all the Japanese names to American ones too? Why not change the name of the movie from AKIRA to DAVID. Anime conversions to Hollywood films just don't work. They can't make the movie without straying from the original concept and feel because of distinct differences in race and culture. The Korean film industry can do the job right. Look at 'Old Boy' and other Korean films. Anime look and feel comes naturally in Korean films.

Rich on Aug 12, 2008

80

Hollywood has run out of ideas...and I am fine with that. Most of their idea's sucked anyway. Then they started realizing that there is a whole giant subculture outside of Studio City, CA that does have ideas that they can pay for. And recently they've figured out that if they don't f**k with it too much, spend the money to do it right - and keep to the original vibe then they can actually make a buck. Fine. I say this given the fact that some of the more recent films based off of pre-existing cool sh*t have been "Not-All-That-Bad" (300, V for Vendetta, Sin City, etc). So I was willing to give the idea of a live action AKIRA movie the benefit of the doubt. If they can make a good Watchmen movie...they can make anything right? Two words just proved me wrong: New and Manhattan. That's straight-up retarded.

IzzyWan on Aug 15, 2008

81

I'm very, very opposed to this movie for many of the reasons stated above. In fact, I'm writing letters to Warner Brothers to let them know that I'm not pleased. If you feel like joining in, please do. It may not do any good, but at least they'll know why I'm not going to buy a ticket to this. Thanks for the informative article and to everyone who expressed their opinions.

Arliss G. on Aug 17, 2008

82

You people are nerds. "OH NOES! THEY ARE CHANGING THE NAME TO NEW MANHATTAN AND MIGHT CAST AN ACADEMY AWARD WINNING ACTOR AS A MAIN CHARACTER!!! WHY GOD WHY!" Seriously. Cry me a river.

awon on Aug 25, 2008

83

I'm really not convinced by the selection of director. Am I not the only one who thinks his live action short film is overstylised, predictable and although does have some nice attention to detail just a bit soulless. Akira for me was always a spiritual awakening with some immense heart. I don't think he'll pull it off - it will lose it's soul. If they can't can anyone close to Ridley Scott then they shouldn't bother making it.

dom on Aug 25, 2008

84

where are the talented asian actors in america? tell them to step out and get their hands dirty with this movie. it's about time!

kdojjcw on Aug 28, 2008

85

Awon: 3/10, must troll harder. So this is something we care about, and were initally excited to see it being given some investment and a cool new treatment that may open it up to a wider audience to share it with, only to find - much like with Transformers, and a few other remake films of late (The Italian Job, even) - that actually, it's just a cynical moneymaking trip and the film itself is going to end up mangled. (I'm not too bothered by cynical moneymaking trips, so long as they sell themselves as such, instead of being sneaky) And for some reason you feel put out enough by our caring about this that it motivates you to come on here and post such a response. Cry ME a fucking river, child. Fuck off, don't come back, and certainly don't come back on these forums to complain when something fairly cool and unique that you feel a bit of a long-standing connection with gets coldly shoved through the blender and homogenised into "yet another Big Monster Destroys New York" movie.

tahrey on Sep 4, 2008

86

Oh man. Someone mentioned the score. If they don't have something resembling the original score by Geinoh Yamashirogumi they are going to fuck this up so hard. A Pan-Asian score with Gamelan, Noh Opera and Taiko drums and then throw in some Bulgarian choirs, electric guitars and church organs for good luck. That is the only recipe for the score of an Akira movie. Of course they'll just put Lux Aeterna, Carmina Burana and whatever bullshit techno from the Matrix soundtrack on it, hire some all-American silicon "babes" with unnatural tans and a "hot" young male lead with a faux-hawk as Kaneda (why not the dude from Transformers! Or the guy who is going to be Goku in the Dragon Ball movie!), dress them in shitty nu-leather like Matrix 2&3, over-design the motorcycles (might as well put FLAMES on Kaneda's bike! All American action movie fans like vehicles with FLAMES on them! Lets get Orange County Choppers to design the bikes!), over-do the CGI, put in way too many product placements, place it in the wrong city... This cannot be good.

Tyler on Sep 6, 2008

87

I don't understand why everyone is flipping out because it's in New Manhattan. If they get the point across of the story why should it matter the place the film is set in, the only time it's ever really mentioned is in the very beginning when they show the dark explosion. It could be set in Germany for all I could give a damn, but everyone who is down talking this needs to actually take a Video Production or Digital Media class, directors do not write the script so if the story is terrible people say "Oh, this guy is a horrible director" they always take the blame when it should be the screenwriters, now if the director wrote the screenplay then it's fair game to shoot him down completely. But see, movies take a large budget, which sometimes they don't get. If everyone is so terrified of the movie because of only the LOCATION quit being so literal and accept the movie for what it will be. I'm honestly excited about it, the bike scenes, the giant Tetsuo blob and the psychic battle between Tet and Kei will hopefully be amazing. Now I do wonder why it's always New York that gets destroyed and why not switch it up to some other city but then again, I'm not one to say "Oh no it's gonna be another New York monster movie" because it could have some deeper plot in it and already planning to have two movies they are able to put more content into the film then one that makes a sequel based on the funding of the last film.

Wonderboy on Sep 21, 2008

88

Ugh. I'm so over being reasonable about this, in the face of people who really don't give a shit about the film telling us that we are stupid for caring about what is looking to be a bullshit remake of a groundbreaking and very well-loved movie (or, for some of your strangely corporate seeming or dispassionate brains - "intellectual property"). Wonderboy: People are flipping over it BECAUSE ITS FUCKING WRONG, KNOB-END. OK? Folk like you not caring what happens to something classic is why we have Bay's Transformer travesty, a remake of the Italian Job that's not actually set in fucking Italy and uses comparitively bulky new-gen minis, and versions of Thomas the Tank Engine that don't have a Fat Controller and have had to include over-the-top evil dramatic characters like Diesel Ten into what was originally a purposefully fairly harmless and gentle set of stories. Get the fuck out and don't come crying when someone messes with a thing you hold dear. What's next, a Casablanca remake, but set in New Orleans to make it more relevant to an American target audience? Look outside your own bloody borders. (And maybe that's the crux of why *I* am particularly flipping out... it's a Japanese story, originally set in Japan, but as it's being remade in English it for some reason has to end up in one of a small number of major American cities. If you're going to do that, why not put it somewhere more exciting that hasn't been done before, that may challenge the viewers a bit? Rome perhaps. Or Marseilles and chuck in a cheeky cameo with a souped-up white peugeot taxi cab whose driver has a brief tussle with the bikers at 100mph. I dunno. Go wild, you're already wrecking it. Plus it's already set fifty-ish years in the future after a nuclear exchange, so there's not supposed to be any familiar ties or geographical cues ANYWAY, so why even bother bringing it to a familiar city in the states?)

tahrey on Sep 22, 2008

89

It really makes me sad how the producers and such don't actualy care at all what the true blue fans since the start think. We are nerds. we are not the masses. the masses are ready for it (or at least a pasterized version of it) , so the producers are going to give it to them. you know why? because its money. the producers are out of ideas, so they are butchering works of art to be fed through a straw to the idiotic masses. it seriously makes my eyes start to fill with tears. its times like this i really wish i didn't live in a subculture, because this is what happenes to us. I wish that i liked what everyone else liked and had no idea about any of this. I wish, when akira came out, I could go and watch it and not know how it was. I would just watch it, laugh stupidly at the big explosions and special effects, and not weep for the destruction of culture it represented. it sounds elitist. it sound like i'm over reacting, but what this means to me is quite simply the rape of everything I have ever truly loved. i will hear stupid people talk carelessly about the things my otaku friends and I used to discuss with reverence on onlline forums. go ahead, say I'm over reacting. say I'm a stupid, stuck up, elitist nerd. I will take it as a compliment. all I'm saying is, please don't f*** with anime. its all I have left, so I'm begging you, nameless producers and stars all over hollywood, don't make these movies. Don't take them away from me.

abby-chan on Sep 22, 2008

90

wow. akira is the holy grail of animation. u gotta understand the japanese culture and their obsessive attention to detail. akira the movie was decades ahead of its time and remains the best anime, or animated film for that matter, that ive seen. old disney shit is also impressive but on a whole different level. a "im 10 years old and i think the wicked stepmother is a meanyhead" type level. anyway the only way this transition to live action could work is if the japs themselves did it. bottom line. american movies are geared towards the average small minded asshole with an IQ that barely breaks the double digits, which unfortunately is 90% of the world. thats their market. thats how they profit. next will come the product lines, happy meals, and cartoons. the producers and studio execs will make millions off of a movie thats more cheap eye candy than actual art. what ever happened to art? an expression of ideas and even your soul that would make you contemplate and understand rather than agree and dismiss.

space monkey on Sep 30, 2008

91

I totally agree! I've read some posts on here asking what's the big deal if the movie is set in Manhattan. It's a huge deal because it's not Japan. Manhattan is american culture, no flickering neon signs with Asian characters in them, no crazy sound effects .. I think all the people who loved the original so dearly understand what we're talking about.

Anonymous on Feb 22, 2011

92

If they make this happen in america and not japan the whole damn story loses most of it's subtext... If these hollywood jerk offs make some stupid "remake" with a buncha white people - this will be SUPER LAME! To tell you the truth I hope this project never happens with american producers involved... AKIRA is about japan and their stuggles to deal with their role in global politics and life after the atomic bomb. The social / culture subtext of it is what makes it more than just a silly "eye candy" sci - fi special effects flick...

jake d! on Oct 4, 2008

93

Kaneda's Motorcycle Concept Website: http://www.negatendo.net/kmc/

NEO on Oct 13, 2008

94

2 things. -It is set in Neo-Tokyo, Hollywood studios, or it is not Akira -Do not put "white" actors in the parts. see above: Set in Neo-Tokyo. There is no reason, in the 21st century, that you cannot have Asian actresses and actors in a film. It is bad enough when there are simply remakes of foreign films. But to pillage a name and/or concept is pathetic. I wish Peoria would start watching subtitles!!

Soda on Oct 13, 2008

95

why? seriously. cant they just leave it be? why do they have to ruin something so great. its one of the best movies ever made and even if it turns out "good" its going to be a commercial good and maybe end like lord of the rings and they will start making video games, cups and all sorts of crappy merchandise. the film lives off of its strangeness and not that its mainstream and looks like other movies, like most genius movies. Once they try making it accessible for everyone its gonna lose its flair and touch and the weird twisted parts.

dropo on Oct 17, 2008

96

Manhattan was not even good for batman and superman why do they think it's good enough for Akira!!! It's like setting all sin city in charlie and the chocolate factory! I think they should just stop! and don't screw over perfection, its infernal affairs all over again! where hollyweird studios americanise great ideas and loose all the things that made them great, see the awful Mirrors with Jack Bauer?! I think we should join the facebook group against the american akira film!!

dodo on Oct 23, 2008

97

I heard its still in japan but the name of the city is neo manhattan. Anyways the only anime adaptation im looking forward to is Evangelion since its being made by GAINAX.

kingzoidberg on Nov 10, 2008

98

if they have any sort of soundtrack besides the original i will bust some suckas up i don't give a shit about any of the other changes, you can't have akira without the kickass soundtrack fffffffffffffffuuuuuck

doggles on Nov 10, 2008

99

yo stop dissing Leonardo. just because he's not an anime nerd like the rest of you doesn't mean he doesn't know what the hell he's doing. maybe the reason why he's making it into a live action film is because he's probably a fan of the movie. give him a chance don't bash him already. remember just like the comic book heads who complain about fantastic 4, and the rest of the comic book movies they complain about, hollywood is not going to cater to the hard core fan. if they did they would not make any money. they make it so that both parents and kids and others who have never heard of akira can enjoy it. why the hell do you think transformers did so well, even though it didn't cater to old school transformer heads? because it was made for everyone. you want something original and not touched. take out your vhs tape and watch akira like that. lol peace BigBen from nyc. Brooklyn to be exact.

Ben on Nov 19, 2008

100

this CAN be done, only if they have all the $$$ and some good actors, but its NEEDS to be In japan and HAS to be 3-4 movies long. Like the MATRIX or LOTR. but thats a lote of $$$ GOOD LUCK dont make this anther speed racer.

JP on Nov 24, 2008

101

Ok i just watched the trailer for the live action dragon ball. It sucks hard, SOOOO HARD. Speed Racer was sooo bad. THESE TWO ANIMES WHERE SIMPLE AS HELL. HOW THE FUCK DO YOU MESS THEM UP. The chance that anyone at Warner brothers has even seen akira is a shot in the dark. They just want the name because people are gonna watch this crap even if it sucks. I will riot if they destroy this story. Im gonna start a web site to not Fucking up live action remakes of anime. I dont wanna hear that this movie is coming out soon, i wanna hear its coming out in 2 years because its going to be epic. AND WTF NEW Manhattan?! THEIR GODDAMN CRAZY. ITS SO FUCKED GOD FUCK DAMNIT. IF ANYONE SUPPORTS THIS IDEA THEY SHOULD DIE VIA LINCHING......thats it, whos down to riot.

Centipede! on Dec 3, 2008

102

ok, altering akira to a point beyond recognition is pretty dumb, but saying that you support a riot because of the movie is beyond retarded. good lord, it's just a movie it could be positive too: people see it, wonder wtf, and then see the original, and otomo gets more money 🙂

doggles on Dec 3, 2008

103

i dont wanna sound like a total si-fi geek but jesus tapdancing christ are they serious? NEW MANHATTAN?! DI'CAPRIO???!!! my god wheres r-kellys roll in this movie? thats not even the worst part. people will watch this movie, walk out of the theater, content on what they saw, oblivious to the fact that they have just watched the tourcher of one of the greatest movies ever made. comon hollywood, you can do better than this. next thing you know paris hilton will star in armitageIII.

GIMPY on Dec 8, 2008

104

Akira is not a movie for families to enjoy. It's a very complex story that deals with very deep philosophical questions about the relationship between the irrationality of those in power and its effects on the human psyche. It would require a surreal and very lavish visual experience that would probably be completely unintelligible to your fuckin retarded summer family fuckin movie goers. Also it was created by a genius who should be respected by the mere fact that it was so so ahead of its time that it will probably be butchered even now, in spite of the technical enhancements available. It is just plain arrogant and depicts the total lack of understanding of such a work of art that these idiots are gonna try to create a completely pointless relation between 9/11 in the US and the futuristic Tokyo shown in the real Akira. It should never be done by someone who's just starting and doesn't have a lot of room to really execute their vision without much interference from the studio's unrefined execs. It should be done by someone who's ready to go all in regardless on how it should be perceived by the general public and who is established and able to really call their own shots. I'm in film school now and that was my plan to finish off my career with a live-action akira in like 15 years from now where maybe there'd be a few more people able to grasp the magnitude of this work. Maybe, I'll still have a chance of doing something truly beautiful out of it...

LS on Dec 9, 2008

105

yeah, so i was reading through this thread and was absolutely horrified at the idea of new manhattan and all that shit. then i saw the poster link and clicked on it. it had a picture of jet li, and EDDIE MURPHY!?!?!?! WHAT THE FUCK IS HE DOING ON AN AKIRA POSTER!!?!?! i'm so sick of america trying to diversify its culture with people of other races. true diversity comes from different ideas, not skin colors. it's almost like another white cop meets black cop comedy except this time, they're treading on the hollowed ground of an animation masterpiece. fuck hollywood, fuck this country and all of its bullshit, i'm leaving. i'm embarassed to even be speaking the same language as the retards who are about to create the biggest pile of dogshit... ever.

mayhem ensues on Dec 20, 2008

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Now I'm not sure, but I think that Akira is a relatively common name in Japan. So even creating an American film called "Akira" loses part of it's meaning. The story comments on Japanese government, education, post-war society, and its romance with technology, as well as the roll of the US/UN in international conflicts (In the end those forces get rejected from Japan by the survivors of Akira who prefer to look after themselves. Using the provided aid.) We're not going to be able to use a lot of the main themes. We could hang on to the philosophical themes ("adolescent passage" and such) and have it be all deep and metaphorical a-la-Blade Runner. But you would need the right director to have that come through. And it would still not be "Akira". As somebody said above, it would be "Jimmy". Let Japan do it. They have dibs.

ash on Dec 31, 2008

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To everyone who thinks the movie should take place in Tokyo - tough luck. You really have no clue how much money that would take, and how unimportant it is to the people who actually take on these projects. Also, I'm surprised at how many people think they have already seen the movie. It's quite sad actually.

trt0001 on Jan 2, 2009

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It's amazing how many people think they have already seen this movie.

trt0001 on Jan 2, 2009

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this movie will suck biggggggggg time

misty on Jan 2, 2009

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Wait...Warner Brothers is taking the best Animated film ever made, and making a live-action hollywood jerk-off version of it???? Hiring an irish guy to direct it???!!!!! Casting Leotardo Decraprio as Tetsuo???!!! and it's going to take place in NEW MANHATTAN??!!!!!!!!! Seriously.........I'm speechless. Why not.....instead of raping an amazing franchise created nearly 30 years ago....come up with something original for fuck's sake. And if you insist on going for it, why take the approach that will gaurantee spastic vomiting from the entire anime community. Fuck off Warner Brothers. YOU SUCK!!!!!!!!

John on Jan 6, 2009

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Oh.. my..god.. get.. off.. your.. high..horses. Leo is only PRODUCING, not starring in. Practically no one is attached to this thing besides the producers, writer, and the director. We just need to cross our fingers and pray to whichever deities we believe in (if any). I don't think they'll be dumb enough to make this movie in New York. C'mon, it's not even coming out until 2011. The writer has done a bit of animated stuff, and Dicaprio loves anime'. I have no doubt in my mind people attached with the movie will check out some message boards and make a change or two to make sure this project doesn't turn to absolute shyte. Death wishes against movie makers? Declaring to leave the country? Burning all of your Akira paraphernalia? Good luck with that. Please just be patient and try not to go completely bat crap insane. As for me, I'll just be over here shivering with excitement while drooling over the fact James Cameron is writing..and directing Battle Angel... aaawwwhhhawhhggrrrmmnnnmmglorghlll....

Voice of Reason on Jan 6, 2009

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"yeah, so i was reading through this thread and was absolutely horrified at the idea of new manhattan and all that shit. then i saw the poster link and clicked on it. it had a picture of jet li, and EDDIE MURPHY!?!?!?! WHAT THE FUCK IS HE DOING ON AN AKIRA POSTER!!?!?! i'm so sick of america trying to diversify its culture with people of other races. true diversity comes from different ideas, not skin colors. it's almost like another white cop meets black cop comedy except this time, they're treading on the hollowed ground of an animation masterpiece. fuck hollywood, fuck this country and all of its bullshit, i'm leaving..." ---- So it took a black man standing alongside Jet li to cause you to start screaming in caps and go on a rant. If it had been a white guy, would you have gone off this badly on a rant of being "sick" of America diversifying its culture? Whatever. You're leaving? Good bye and good riddance. Don't let the door hitchya. 😉 In answer to what everyone else has said: I think a majority of you who are frothing at the mouth are typical fanboy anime losers. Akira the MANGA was a masterpiece. Akira the ANIME was a piece of garbage. If you'd actually READ the manga before seeing the movie, you'd know that. But because you're a bunch of fanboy anime losers who heard from other fanboy anime losers that Akira was great-- or because you popped your cherries on Akira, the first anime you'd ever seen-- you're acting as if that movie was as sacred or as untouchable as Casablanca or The 7 Samurai or something. Learn to tell the difference between a great movie and a movie you "thought" was great because it was the first of its kind you'd ever seen. Akira was terrible, because it was muddled, self indulgent, incomprehensible, and worse yet, a complete rewrite of the story. The best characters were left out or given cameos and some of the best action sequences were left out. So there were lots of room for improvement for that movie, no matter what rabid otaku think. I don't expect this new Hollywood movie to be brilliant, but I am looking forward to it, because this is a chance for a movie to actually FOLLOW the events of the books and keep its characters, as opposed to becoming a self-indulgent, wandering mess.

Otaku R Retards on Jan 11, 2009

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Even if this movie is good, it will never reach the level of quality from the original manga. The anime adaptation lacked the scenarios and dialogs. Sure the animation was sublime and old school but they invented new scenes and messed up the story because it would have been too long to show all of the story. With the same quality of animation, I always wished they could have made 6 movies, 1 movie per book, instead of 1 half-satisfying anime compared to the manga. It is that level of details which makes the manga a truly inspirational piece of work. That being said, this movie will fail to reach the ideas of the manga just like the anime but even more so. All I see is a big movie machine (aka Hollywood) that appropriates ideas to itself in order to make more money. Don't get me wrong, this movie will surely offer entertainment even if stained by the american movie industry. What I fear is the potential of Hollywood that they are going to make an awful adaptation out of it and change everything about it. People will think of that movie when they think of Akira... While they have no idea how rich, original, powerful and beautiful the manga truly is. For all that matters... The memory of the universe is engraved inside of us. LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE OF AKIRA

Croymisch on Jan 14, 2009

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I just want to say I HATE HOLLYWOOD!!!!! I love anime, and Akira is one of those movies that makes you love anime, but by trying to make a live action movie out of something I love, hollywood is dumping on me as well as any fan of this classic film. God I understand hollywood ran out of fresh ideads a LONG time ago, but still go remake some crap movie, but Akira, one of if not the most popular anime movies of all time, really hollywood? IF I ever meet the man who is responsible for my fav animes and films being remade into crap films im going to hit him....hard.

Banks on Jan 18, 2009

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Question, first: Poster? Where? Gimme! I gotta see this for myself. tr001: No, we haven't seen it yet, and we live in hope that it won't be fucking awful. Unfortunately we also have the benefit of experience, and having "seen it all before". Masters of the Universe film: Had to bring it into modern-day america for some reason. Sucked. Transformers remake: Sucks. Not as bad as it could be, but it's about as far from what I expected and hoped for when I first heard about it as it's possible to get whilst still having just-enough framework to still bear the Transformers name. TBH it was probably expected given all the Beastwars etc that's come in-between, but... it's the movie, man. What we wanted was the slightly tackily animated but perfectly conceived, scripted and acted 1984 version done with exquisite CG. What we got was.... well, I don't know what to call it. One word can sum it up pretty well, however: Bumblebee. Italian Job remake: ITS NOT EVEN IN FUCKING ITALY. Fail. I don't even [i]want[/i] to see it. There are MANY reasons why the original settings were so right and LA can't quite capture it. Taxi remake: Now, THIS could have worked. Although it being in France originally added to some of the charm, the main part of the fun was from the dialogue (ok, thru subtitles, but), character interplay, and visual set pieces, which can work anywhere if you get them right. The chases may have lost something in the transfer across the pond, but it wouldn't have been a travesty. Too bad the casting and re-characterisation was just appalling. (don't start on how the original's own sequels were a bit TOO ludicrous... I know, already) Dragonball remake: Have you SEEN that trailer? It's going to be Charlies Angels with a bit of token mysticism and maybe a couple of fireballs. Bloody hell. (BTW anyone who wants to go down the "Piccolo's not green!" route - stop before someone else shoots you down. Haven't seen that part of the show myself, but apparently in the time frame represented by the movie, he hadn't gone all Namekian yet) And as a counterpoint: Ronin. Bourne trilogy. Any typical Bond film. This sort of thing CAN be done without having to be set in the main conurbations of either the Eastern or Western seaboards of the United States of America, with an all-white all-american/(fake-)english cast. It'd just be so naff if it became yet-another-psychic-monster movie, instead of an updated version of something that probably inspired a lot of them in the first place. .... still, if we get to see Tetsuo going blobby in well-rendered 3D (we can has anaglyph / polarised lenses version pleez?), awesome bikes, the flying-platform thingies (which were inspired by real, if rare, vehicles BTW), the blue skinned midget kids, and fights involving realistic-physics laser rifles & kill-sats, it may still be worth it. Or maybe the cost of a DVD rental. If we don't at least get those, then they can fuck RIGHT off. Hey who knows ... they might expand and improve it enough that Akira himself appears for more than about 10 seconds this time. Fingers crossed very hard. Still at the ambivalent stage right now. But I'm sure we'd be a lot more accepting of whatever they planned to do if it was still in an Asian setting. Having the bikers tear up a slightly run-down, near-future version of Akibahara would at least be far more *colourful* than the average western equivalent.

tahrey on Jan 20, 2009

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heh... ok, it's not a phpbb... I was typing a reply on one of those a moment ago so I got confused, it wasn't a cut 'n' paste job. Another positive example of being moderately creative with the setting and cast, and this is even of a relatively brainless and cheap action movie that's otherwise got a cheesy plot, several glaring continuity errors, and the general air of something that is actually a remade cookie-cutter hong kong kung-fu flick: Transporter.

tahrey on Jan 20, 2009

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some guy who knows nothing about directing, a Japanese anime movie that started all anime..set in Matt? what the fuck? this is just oging to ruin my memory of what a great movie akira w a s

Number1xer0 on Jan 26, 2009

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To be fair, I think the director they want to use seems to have a flair for the f*cked up... but I still don't think that can save this project. It sounds like it's destined to be utterly disappointing. The only glimmer of hope is the mention of Joseph Gordon Levitt as Tetsuo. Kid can act. Who saw Brick? But yeah... see my original point... ugh...

Katya on Mar 2, 2009

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To those people who are saying we haven't seen this movie yet, well we don't need to. We've actually seen it many times before. A new director gets an old franchise, pushes a film through production on a moderate budget, adds some flashy effects to entice a naive new audience, the oldschool fanbase is mobilized to create a buzz, our studios turn a profit, yadda, yadda, yadda. Come on it's an old idea. Take a look at this thread, we are being used to create a buzz. Will this film be good, will it suck? This kind of debate is what WB likes, it gets the community talking. They know it, we know it, this film is going to suck like Lewinsky on election night. After all Akira's soul is in Tokyo - the whole point is that the Japanese got A-bombed all to hell and our studios don't want to air any dirty laundry, thus the switch to Manhattan. This story is written as a Japanese historical warning about their government's arrogance and that means F-all in the US. 9/11 was a cream pie in the face compared to Hiroshima, and what has been learned from it...? Culturally speaking making this film in Manhattan would be as superfluous as making Superman in New Delhi. Wait, Bollywood-Supe, that's funny. Of course Superman is naive, superficial, garbage and DC would sell it's ass out of a bathroom stall to make a buck. Maybe this all sounds a little anti-American but dammit if this culture has any dignity left. But who cares anyway? Why shouldn't we get our own version of Akira. It matters not to me, I will not pay to see this movie and I will always know that the comics and the original animation were classics. I just hope that this film turns more people on to the originals than off. Peace!

Slipknot on Mar 8, 2009

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I think its shameful that they are remakeing such a perfect film especially as a live action. I dont think anyone who has seen Akira would want to see a remake of it. Personally I think the only reason for remaking this great film is simply to make money of the back of the original film , hollywood needs to stop remaking films and come up with some original ideas. I'm worried this remake will turn Akira into a more accessible dumbed down story that will miss the subtleties and overall uniqeness that I believe is nearly impossible to recreate especially if they plan to remake in the medium of live action. In short PLEASE LEAVE AKIRA ALONE!! go play with something that could be made better with a remake if you want to remake something or better yet come up with something original!!!!!!!

clum on Mar 15, 2009

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There are some movies that I would really like to see in live action, this isnt one of them. Akira is a piece of modern art, the novels and the original movie are timeless, the live action movie adapt will be on DVD and forgotten in two years with all those other dismal comic to big screen blunders. Somehow I dont think this will work, aesthetically and culturally. I dont think CGI will be able to fully capture the fight scene at the Olympic stadium, the city scapes of Neo Tokyo (New Manhattan, what a joke!), Leonardo DiCaprio as Kaneda, he's to old and fat, they were kids in the movie, still in their teens! The original movie centres around a young motorcycle gang, many are found in present Tokyo its part of the Japanese culture, if the movie is set in 'New Manhattan' maybe they can be bike messengers instead! Dont let Hollywood do to Akira what they did to Speed Racer or the shocking Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter franchises!!!

arceyes on Mar 17, 2009

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I don't like it. This is now the new trend. Why? I mean, I get it: Because of the money. But if you want it to be successful, you have to put a real effort into it. Why not work with Otomo on the script? Why write a new screenplay? I mean: The Manga is both Screenplay and Storyboards. It worked for Sin City. And I really hoped, people would learn from the success. Why make a live action movie based on video games, comics, mangas, if you don't give a shit about the artists behind, the orignal vision. Why pretend it is an live action movie adaptation, when in fact, it is just bullshit. I love Akira. But I am more shocked about the Cowboy Bebop movie. Why making a live action movie? It should stay an anime. That's it. I hate Hollywood so much.

gotchewz on Mar 25, 2009

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What the hell, people. Akira is a brilliant anime feature, possibly the best ever made. But why on earth would you pathetic fanboys want to sell the live action project out before it's even started shooting? Because it's American? Because it has a director making his feature debut? Because you hate New York? Lie down before you hurt yourselves. I'm actually *more* in favour of Ruairi Robinson stepping into the directorial role for this movie than, say, Spielberg, or (heaven forbid) Michael Bay. The man will be deathly aware of the expectation of such fanboys as yourselves to make the films the best way possible. This film will be his make-or-break moment: from this he will go onto higher things and be mentioned in the same sentence as Peter Jackson or George Lucas, or he will forever be known as the man who "ruined" Akira and probably never work on a major feature again. I'm also more in favour of the movie being split in two. Bravo! Finally, a studio has been willing to take the financial risk of telling the whole story like it should be told. How often have we seen some of our favourite conceptual stories turned into two-hour boom-boom-bang-boom fests that never touch on any subplots in the original stories whatsoever (a la Transformers or even the original studio concept for Lord of the Rings)? Think about it... This is an OPPORTUNITY, people. Everyone thought Chris Nolan would ruin the Batman franchise forever with his reboot, and The Dark Knight went on to become the second highest grossing film in history. Everyone thought Zack Snyder would completely butcher Watchmen, and while the film isn't as brilliant as the graphic novel it's still easily the best big budget film of 2009 so far. So before we start getting self-righteous and "I hate Hollywood", let's give this one a chance. The news in this story is surprisingly good, so before you rubbish it for not being Japanese enough and "declaring it will flop miserably", try putting your whiny fanboy mode on hold until *after* you've seen the thing at least once. Then you can rubbish them if they don't do it to your exact specifications.

Alex on Apr 4, 2009

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This movie/manga is epic, no, legendary. i think changing even just the setting might ruin it. the anime was perfect the way it is. i just fear that they'd "Americanize" it too much (i mean, its centralized in tokyo, damnit!). Plus, DiCaprio playing Kaneda (read this somewhre..)? I dunno but it just sound soooo wrong in many levels (maybe it just me..)This was one of those animes that I've watched and loved since i was a kid and It's really awesome that they're making a movie and im seriously happy hearing bout it -- dont get me wrong. I'm looking forward to seeing how this one turns out so i do hope they dont f**k it up.

i.mean.seriously... on Apr 5, 2009

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DiCaprio? Wouldn't he be ... yknow ... far too old now?

tahrey on Apr 5, 2009

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@ Alex on Apr 4, 2009 I don't agree with you. Yes, Nolan did a great job. But Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are the first and only Batman movies, there was a lot of bullshit before. No this is not an opportunity. Some things shouldn't have a live-action movie adaptation. Especially some Anime, Comics, Movies, Mangas. Yeah, we haven't seen anything of the Akira Movies yet. But as soon as I read that they are looking for another writer to make a screenplay, I knew, this is another movie not worth watching. Just watched Wolverine: Origins and even this movie is so crappy. I really hope, that some future generations of directors, screenwriters will take Nolan and Rodriguez, Del Toro as an example. Those guys made so far the best comic adaptations.

gotchewz on Apr 8, 2009

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Hollywood is running out of ideas. I got a movie idea... A killer tire swing eats children but later falls in love with a little girl, who grows up and ends up killing her out of hatred of her new husband, who is a quadriplegic after a car wreck from cheating on her with his male cousin. Bam. where the _FUCK_ is my money now?

Jack on Apr 12, 2009

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"NEO-MANHATTAN?! RARGHGHHH!!" " Why does Hollywood have to Americanize EVERYTHING?!" ... well... to be fair... have you guys ever read a trade paperback graphic novel called Marvel Mangaverse? Or seen the Indian version of Superman or Spider-Man? Check any of those out, better yet, check all of them out, and you might find yourself saying... "Yeah, you know what? FUCK ASIA. They have this coming." Kidding aside, I have a couple of points. To the Purists: Guys, is it not true that, while we have seen a host of really, REALLY awful re-makes and adaptations, I.E. "Batman and Robin," "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," "The Day The Earth Stood Still," "The Ring and The Ring 2" and... this one hurts me most of all... "Daredevil?" While we have seen adaptations that have sucked out loud, have we NOT also seen adaptations that have kicked UNPRECEDENTED amounts of ass? V For Vendetta. Chris Nolan's Batman films. The DEPARTED. All of these are either adapted from another medium or from another country's original version of the film. You are all, in my opinion, forgetting one of the first tenets of nerdcore; something that is lodged in the heart of every comic book we read and every sci-fi movie we watch: "No matter how shitty things are, there is always a glimmer of hope." And to the people who are knocking at the Raging Fanboys and Fangirls: Guys. Seriously. While their rage might be a little over the top, I think a lot of it is justified when you look at movies like Goddamn Ghost Rider. I think it's good that, supposedly, they're going to try to stick close to the books AND they're splitting it over two movies like LOTR did. That MIGHT just give them adequate room to stick all the best stuff in there. I think a lot of people are pissed off that by moving it to America, this story will lose a lot of the subtext (which is deeply rooted in Japanese feelings after World War II). I think that's a valid concern because... well, imagine if they remade Gone With the Wind but they set it in England in the 1960s. It loses a great deal of the essential background. To all of you: I'm not about to say that this movie is going to come as close as is possible in a feature-length movie to getting the original story (I.E. Watchmen, Sin City) or that it's going to take everything that was in the book and even add more, cooler stuff (300) but my default position is not going to be "THIS MOVIE'S GONNA SUCK DONKEY BALLS, RARGH!" How about some Cautious Optimism?

Cautious Optimism on Apr 21, 2009

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this movie is not being rushed at all...the animated movie was in 1988, that was 21 years ago. perfect timing for it now with all the technology we have available. and its not gunna suck, you dont want some huge big time director like michael bay or george lucas(lmaol, just an example) making this movie. theyll ruin it completely. and to those furious about its so called "remake" its not being "remade" theres no new story line or plot, it just follows the books more than the 88 flick. i think its a perfect idea, hollywood is not trying to mess anything up nor are they "running out of things to do" the anime is raw. very uncut and violent. this indie director would be perfect as long as he reviews the books and sticks to its violent and sharp visuals. a well known dir. would have no sex ,no violence, and no blood, so that kids could see this. it should be rated R, i hope it is. tetsuo is a F'ED up dude. as he goes through his miserable transformation he really "lets it all go" and it would only be right to show how truly painful and mentally unstable he is by following up with violent acts of rage on the city and a foul mouth. i DO agree that this cannot be done with whack well known white actors, that would be the demise of a story with perfect potential for a remake. like dragonball-cmon they really F***** up with that, i havnt seen it but you cant have people like justin chatwin EVER play a japanese character. dammit! that also had some potential(and i say some, like 15%) i mean they americanized goku, he goes to school with JOCKS for christ sake. anyway of the topic. no leo dicaprio, americans working on the film is fine as long as they stick to japanese roots. and no Manhattan. one of the greatest things about the film and books is that dark, yet bright and vivid neo-tokyo. keep it like it is: raw, uncut, vivid, violent, sharp, futuristic, and japanese inspired and you have a masterpiece that is AKIRA! peace and god speed to all who believe this has a chance if done correctly!

the kryptonian on May 3, 2009

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following the books more? really? your evidence for this?

tahrey on May 4, 2009

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TO TAHREY!- its in the first few sentences in the first paragraph of this post, right underneath the "akira" logo at the top. lmaol did you even read the post before searching through comments...also imbd and imbd pro explains this. quote: "However, the film is primarily going to be adapted from anime artist Katsuhiro Otomo's graphic novel more than the original 1988 anime movie." read first dude...

the kryptonian on May 4, 2009

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im actually crying this is horrible the only reason japan hasn't made it yet is most likely out of respect for the achievements of the artist the raw power in just the background of his art is groundbreaking... this movie would need a genius ...no actually no mater what this spells disappointment i cant stop crying this is wrong if some one doesn't do some thing fans will start killing there self or others,... the only good remakes ive ever seen were made by the original creators. whats fucking next what will you destroy next yuyu hakusho ? armatige ghost in the shell? zelda? gundam?..... (its to late for prince of Persia the main actor cant even handle a sword let alone free run...) PLEASE STOP THE MADNESS!! i hate being american you guys ruined it this was the last straw... think we can make a petition to stop them from making it?? passing one over the internet we could easily make over a million votes against this atrocity if some one starts a petision aim me ill pass it around to popular sites ... Kyuuketsukiblood@aol.com

chris on May 18, 2009

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...this is equivalent to taking a Hitori Hanzo blade and printing American Steel on it... .........truly outraged....

chris on May 18, 2009

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Why am I thinking Ultraviolet after reading this article?

employee clockin clockout on May 25, 2009

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to kryptonian: no mate, i didn't. it's fair comment, but... i've been following this thread for fucking ages with email alerts popping in my inbox now and then. i'd defollow but i can't yet be arsed to figure it out. therefore it's been quite a long time since i last read the top parts of the page because i thought i already had a reasonable handle on what's going on (when I did, i read about as much as i could stand of the posts that existed at the time, director Ruari Rhodes' background, details of the re-engineered plot vs what I can remember of the original print and film versions). Maybe not that good, but eh. Internet. If we're lucky and they keep the Stupidly Fucking It Up quotient to a manageable level, it may well follow the manga better, given how wildly the anime diverged once they realised there was nowhere near enough money or celluloid left to carry on. ie The idea of spreading it over 2 or more films to cram in all the detail and crazy intertwining plotlines - very promising. However it comes back to the core point of "its not in Kansas* any more" (or on a personal level you could call it the "Optimus is a Mack, and Bumblebee's a Dodge" effect) - if they can't even figure a way of keeping the action in the original location, notwithstanding it's supposed to be moderately futuristic and post limited-apocalypse, it doesn't bode well. And there's likely to be munchkins, of the wrong kind. * ok its a lot closer to Kansas than Tokyo, but hopefully you understand the reference.

tahrey on May 27, 2009

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...and thinking more about your response to what I put, how much of all this stuff did YOU read before typing that? I'm reserving final judgement until I've seen the thing - as I did for Transformers, Batman x2, Iron Man and Star Trek (assumption: two wins, two fails, one epic fail --- result: one epic fail (but not the same one), one win, three epic wins... so it's not worth counting your chickens *that* much). It's not sounding good this far in - with several name and ethnicity changes, the different location etc, hence I stand by my initial reaction - but they may surprise us and pull out something that's at least as good as The Magnificent Seven vs The Seven Samurai, or is quite simply "a very well filmed version of the manga just with some characters and places looking and called differently". It's a very singular property remember; it stands alone, like a classic literary novel, and hence unless yours is the latest in a long line of adaptions and you fancy doing something "different", you need to be careful in the adaption. Things like Super/Spider/Batman (or even X-men etc), you can do it a number of different ways and still be fairly well on the money as they're quite flexible properties that have already been quite screwed-around with down the years. Whereas we can compare Akira maybe more to something like Watchmen, or Sin City, or The Spirit even (...Iron Man?), which are quite pure in their conception and whose movie treatments, certain controversies aside (over what are in comparison minor details), are remarkably close to the paper originals even in how they have lighting effects and angles applied. For your first time out, it may pay to be a stickler for canon otherwise you're going to be in for a torrent of abuse should you make some serious errors of judgement in what you change. Otherwise you'll have a rapping Rizzleorsach on your hand with a pimp suit instead of a trenchcoat and a scenario set in current-universe, 2009, just with added not-quite-superheroes. All the actual storylines underlying this may still be the same, and the base characterisation but it's lost something in the translation.

tahrey on May 27, 2009

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The release-date is TWO years out. A lot can happen between now and then! "New Manhattan"? It smells too much like a rumor. It smacks of hearsay, inference, and interpretation. This suggestion is based on phantom "reports". What reports? If we dig around the web long enough, and look up old articles for 'Watchmen', we see the same kinds of "omgz heresy!" articles. The final result was very satisfying, despite all of the FUD and krazy rumors about time-travel, and yadda yadda yadda. Snyder was able to film an "unfilmable" masterpiece, and delivered the goods. Watchmen managed to reset the bar for comic book adaptations, specifically in the area of sticking-to-the-story. Were there differences? Sure, but the main arc of the story was mainly left intact. Did anyone honestly expect to see New York in the aftermath of a devastating explosion? I didn't, and I also didn't see the change (from the original story) coming that explained it. Frankly, I still think that this major difference not only worked within the context of the film, it was also more "believable". Who knew? Snyder proved that not only can the "little details" be retained, they also help to evoke the familiar atmosphere of the comic books. Guess what? The fans LOVED him for it! Producers aren't dumb. Watchmen's positive-reception makes a strong argument in favor of staying true (mostly) to the spirit of the original narrative. I, for one, will smuggle a frosty Kirin into the theater on opening-day, and enjoy both!

sevvo on Jun 4, 2009

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OMFG FUCK OFF AMERICA!!! must you remake every single thing!! Really irritated!!

luke on Jun 8, 2009

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NEW MANHATTAN? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF do you have to ruin such a masterpiece of a graphic novel Warner Brothers???? The First time director has some major talent, and may be able to pull it off... KEEP IT IN NEO-TOKYO, don't make another American MTV BULLSHIT movie that will be worthless after it's initial glitz. For god sakes, don't fuck this up like all your other commercial crap films. I am so fucking disappointed tight now... thanks for ruining my childhood and the vision of Katsuhiro Otomo. Assholes. WATCHMEN was beautiful, to bad Snyder won't direct this one.

Tony M. on Jun 9, 2009

140

Lets hope they don't ruin this as they did with the Dragon Ball live action remake

Leech on Jun 20, 2009

141

Just seen / been taken by surprise by posters for a live action (and double length :D) remake of Blood: The Last Vampire. It would suggest to have a western director as well, from the name ... but it's still set in Japan with Japanese actors. Hmmm. I feel compelled to go see it, and find out if it's any good, and how true it stays to the manga and anime source material. If the results are positive, we can then send an email to Ruari or the company filming Akira (yes yes, i forgot who, big whoop) and recommend they go see it and rethink a few things. (of course it may be rubbish anyway, in which case we need to quietly slink away and pretend it doesn't exist! 😉

tahrey on Jun 22, 2009

142

Why doesn't Hollywood try to get ideas of their own? Why aren't there asian actors as leads in big budget American movies other than martial arts and period films? What does it take to convince the American audience that asians are not seen as an American in the entertainment industry. Give asians a salary number so they don't annoy the white folks where it's more profitable to make fun of asians and the asian cultures than helping them to be seen as an American!!

Dicky on Jul 17, 2009

143

AKIRA is one of the most respected animated films ever made (it's well liked in the western world), and a live action version would be like making a live action version of STAR WARS (1977 version). AKIRA was one of the few anime films that were played in theaters (select theaters) here in the U.S. and it introduced the western audience in animation that they really haven't seen before just like STAR WARS introduced Sci-Fi films that the audiences haven't seen before. AKIRA is a classic and it should not be tampered with.

Dicky on Jul 17, 2009

144

is it just me or do the last two posts not really make any sense? for a start, star wars already was live action and has had enough messing around done to it in the style of animated specials, spin offs etc....

tahrey on Jul 19, 2009

145

I think what Dicky was saying is that Akira was one of the few anime films that is highly respected. It would be like messing around with Van Goph paintings or Beethoven's music, and it's hard to imagine anyone wanting to do a remake of a classic. I think what Hollywood should do is come up with their own story that has an anime influence like the Matrix series which has Ghost in the Shell quality.

G on Aug 15, 2009

146

Well yes... I generally agree with him... but making bad arguments FOR a point can be as harmful as good ones against it! Plus one thing you've sort of missed, G - the Watchowskis DIDN'T go and make "Ghost In The Shell" (generally-butchered american live action version set in new york), but their own fairly original story inspired by the concepts, look and feel of GitS and various other extant anime/manga, cyberpunk etc sources. Partly because of their respect for the "source" material and not wanting to spoil it, and from wanting to make their own mark. (and, arguably, to disguise the bits they directly ripped off 😉 Now, some new live action along those lines, taking major hints from Akira and its own ilk, but making an all new trendsetting movie with its own storyline and title, just stylistically similar... would more than likely be goddamn awesome. Big mutating psychic guys going apeshit on a major city whilst being fought against by bike punks with laser cannons and flying scooters? Or something similar to that but changed as much as is necessary to make it properly unique? FUCK YEAH. On the other hand, not bothering to get your own title, or own script for 95% of it, but still screwing around with some of the major plot elements just to make it less alien to your target audience (even though alien-ness is part of it's appeal - including to viewers in early-90s japan) is just lame.

tahrey on Aug 18, 2009

147

"late-80s japan", sorry

tahrey on Aug 18, 2009

148

I only heard news of a live action movie this week and this is the site i found when i googled it... My inital thoughts were that tit was gonna be awesome! I have watched the movie at least 100 times and i cant wait to see live action i think you gus are all hung up on stupid little details what if the so called "New Manhattan" is actually the result of a war where japan takes over and they "re-build" their Neo-Tokyo.... AND in post number 145 i gotta say you sound like an IDIOT!!! how many times have you been sold a product from classic artwork??? I believ ther have been countlees commercials made from just Edvard Munc's "Scream"..... oh and Music????? classic songs grace the soundtracks of every movie or commercial made now!!!

TrowaB on Aug 18, 2009

149

read post number 122 becaue that speaks the truth there s no reason anyone should be so down on the project... An eve if the thing is a failure it will spark intrest in the original which is amazing

TrowaB on Aug 18, 2009

150

Again I couldn't be more livid right now. They best not fuck this up. They will of course, but I have to remain hopeful. At least Fox doesn't have there infected little stumps in this one. I trust Warner Bros. a little more.

R.T. Gerwaski. on Sep 18, 2009

151

Someone who has no directing experience.........well I'll just hope for the best, you never know.

SMT on Sep 19, 2009

152

I heard the director quit cuz it was dead as a door nail so what's dis mean

stanley on Sep 24, 2009

153

Any news on if and when the Akira film will be released??

Tony on Oct 9, 2009

154

>>148 Yes, and that is just as deplorable in of itself. Just because someone else is doing a thing doesn't mean it's good, or that you'd be right in copying it.

tahrey on Oct 12, 2009

155

>>149 Actually I feel more that 122 has a fair amount of crap in it, and may be twisting things to their own ends to try and make the point. I for one didn't think that Batman Begins / The Dark Knight / Watchmen were going to suck... they seemed to have directors on board who wanted to make something quite close to the actual source material with as much of the actual spirit intact as possible. (For a start, Batman wasn't going to be set in Metropolis or whatever) ... it was still open to debate as to whether they'd actually pull it off, but the signs were all good. In this case, the signs are not so good, and it may yet come out awesome ... but it'll be something of a turnabout if it does. Also... yes... Robinson will probably make a better fist of it than Bay or Spielberg, but that's not really putting the bar very high (Mike would just murder the storyline whilst probably being quite good on the big-explodey-mutant stuff, and Steve would be quite the opposite... we need someone who can do both), and again sort of picking and choosing worst-case-scenarios to judge the current reality against. Plus, where in it being split in two suggests they're going to be true to the original, touch on multiple subplots, or "do it how it should be done"? There's plenty of longwinded treatments of classic material that still make a total pig's ear of it. Besides, if you REALLY want to do justice to the manga (which is the implication), you'd more realistically want some kind of big-budget, episodic, made-for-HDTV kind of production instead...... I'm thinking Heroes, Flashforward (the latter being based on a regular-size novel, for pete's sake; the full 6-volume Akira graphic novel takes a bit longer to plough through), etc. The amount of good-looking CG that even a mid-budget TV show (Enterprise 😉 can now bring to bear means that you don't necessarily need it to be a full hollywood production to do justice to the mutation, ion cannon and flying-scooter scenes, and spreading it out over a longer timescale, even on the order of five or six hours if not 12-to-24, means you can explore the story better. A couple of 90-minute movies probably won't cut it all so much better than the original fast paced 100-ish minute anime unless the direction is super tight.

tahrey on Oct 12, 2009

156

neil blomkamp should be directing this movie damn it would be some awesome stuff =D you can tell he is inspired by japanese anime in his work he would do this movie justice especially after District 9.

Max on Oct 23, 2009

157

Sounds shit.

Callum on Oct 27, 2009

158

Hollywood, what are you doing to us otaku? Haven't they yet taken the hint that Americans making live-action anime/ videogame movies JUST DOESN"T WORK. I here that Leonardo DiCaprio is going to play Kaneda....Seriously? Does Hollywood hate anime that bad? THE GUYS IN HIS THIRTIES!!!! Okay, so Joseph Gorden-Levitt as Tetsuo, THAT I can see. But please, Hollywood...stop this bull-crap. Aside from Hollywood always tiptoeing around the idea of actuall csting real ASIAN ACTORS FOR ONCE, how about this: stop pandering to the just people who don't know anime. Why can't we just let a Japanese company make a Japanese movie? OMG, what an idea! Seiously, the only reason that hollywood takes over and casts old white actors is because they don't want babies whining that "OH, but I don't want to have to read subtitles!" Great, so you're going to sacrifice quality just so it's in english? DEAL WITH IT. We all know that Hollywood can't remake anime movies in live-action to save their life. So, please Hollywood...STOP THE NONSENSE ALREADY!!!

Super-Nori on Nov 14, 2009

159

this is fucke insane they can not chop up this great film sum 1 needs to do someting about this all hope is lost if this movie comes out in new manhatten very very sad

this is fucked up on Jan 20, 2010

160

please please please don't rape the best anime ever

-=strangedope=- on Feb 14, 2010

161

i was in here a while ago......people people! i got word the project has been canceled. Anybody know of this statement?

USERMETHIS on Feb 14, 2010

162

Uh.... how the hell are they going to do that ending?

Matress on Jun 24, 2010

163

New Manhattan...? So they're gonna white-wash another one.

Disappoint on Jun 26, 2010

164

I hope they do not Americanize it with lousy comedy punch lines and corny love interest character.

Klinc on Jul 31, 2010

165

The only place this should be filmed is: TOKYO. The only Actors that should be hired are : JAPANESE! Dont do another Dragonball Z, that was the worst adaption EVER to be made by hollywood.

Christo on Aug 30, 2010

166

Oh God no... Oh God... WHY!? If they were actually going to stick with the names and rating this wouldn't bother me. Tetsuo is Tetsuo, nothing else! As for Kaneda... Hollywood: And you shall be... Krispin! Kaneda: WTF!? NO! Thats MISTER Kaneda to you PUNK! Sorry... I couldn't resist. Point: Kaneda must stay Kaneda and Tetsuo must stay Tetsuo. And swear that they're going to re-name Kai Kevin. I really do swear. About the rating, I really do think it should stay R! Come on! Just think! Tetsuo's addiction to drugs, Tetsuo's blowing people up! And what about the end! Tetsuo the blob! The scene was just brutal! And you know that Kaori (I think thats her name) WON'T get crushed by Tetsuo! Heck, she probably won't die! And the music! I loved the music! What are they going to use? Friggin' rap? You know they will! Hence the bikers and what not. The music was awesome! I so loved it! The fact that this isn't going to take place in Neo Tokyo makes me mad too. My mom isn't an anime fan, but when I told her about them changing the location, she was pissed! Definantly not as much as me though! They're changing their ages too, right? -_- Unlike some animes like Bleach (not dissing fans, just pointing it out) and whatnot, they actually looked their ages! So why change their ages in the live action version!? UGH! And still, the friggin' PG-13! I hear copies are hard to come across so I better buy one quick before the live action TRASH comes out...

Mariah on Oct 24, 2010

167

I'm worried. When we all saw this film at age 10 - 12 what did we feel? When I first saw it I was equally frightened and in awe. Just remember back to when you heard the music that was in that movie, the creepy chants and that moving flute solo that comes in a few times during the movie. The musical score alone was moving! Then throw in the effects and visuals and the shear violence .... I just don't see a studio remaking this film and capturing it's brutality and mesmerizing feeling like the anime did - I just don't. They probably wont even make it R rated and that bugs the shit out of me. I mean, how can you remake this movie into live action and capture all of those elements? I hate to be negative but I think that everyone who loved the anime will be sick to their stomachs when/if it gets remade. I mean, that much violence in the theaters today? C'mon, I just don't see it happening. I certainly hope, if it gets made that it has ALL of that stuff in it and then some but, prob not. Boooo And what's the deal with all of these American actors and "New" Manhattan as the backdrop? Whaa?

Anonymous on Feb 22, 2011

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