What's the old saying? "If at first you don't succeed..."
Warner Bros is of this opinion because they're once again opening that can of worms labelled Akira and are now in the process of once again trying to get a live-action American version of the anime classic off the ground and into theaters. Early last year, all efforts in making the Akira film ground to a halt, but now Warners seems to have gone as far as press director Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan, Unknown) into service to bring the film to life.
Now Collet-Serra has been involved in the project before, so maybe since he's familiar with the territory his name moved to the front of the line. Variety says that the studio likes the director's take on the material, and the real sticking point now is the budget, which Warner Bros obviously wants to be smaller. Production on Akira has been in development hell for the better part of the last decade, with directors such as Stephen Norrington and the Hughes Brothers previously attached with actors such as Leonardo di Caprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Robert Pattinson all rumored to star at one point or another.
Akira, based on the manga of the same name, is about a teenage biker with psychic powers in dystopian future Tokyo. No release date or anything else official has yet to be offered from the studio. Obviously, we'll have more news for you as the story develops.
Source: /Film
