AKIRA Confirmed!

Reader Comments

1. Airchinapilot 02/20/2008 @ 5:42pm

   TETSUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

2. iacus 02/20/2008 @ 5:48pm

   KANEDAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

   Leonardo Dicaprio huh?

3. GAPS 02/20/2008 @ 5:50pm

   Moved to Manhattan? Who will they replace the American military with?

4. mc85 02/20/2008 @ 6:29pm

   I don’t know if this is good or bad!  I mean, Ruairi Robinson hasn’t had the experience to tackle a job like this.  He did do the excellent short Silent City, but that hardly compares to a trilogy of one of the world’s greatest loved films and comics.  I’m sure his soul will be in the right place, but will he be able to pull it off?

5. yynderjohn 02/20/2008 @ 9:08pm

   OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!!  If they follow the comics with the factions vying for power after the first Akira trigger and Tetsuo and the Moon?!!!!  Dream come true if done right….

6. ChevalierAguila 02/20/2008 @ 9:30pm

   Just…no…this doesn’t sound right at all. Unless they really follow the manga, and actually put together a good cast, and not Shia Lebouff (whatever you spell that) and other assorted teen robots.

7. BlackIrishBastard 02/21/2008 @ 12:30am

   As long as the original story line is not altered I will probably be the first in line to see it.

8. ChrisC 02/21/2008 @ 2:27am

   No. I don’t see this ending well unless they find a way to replicate the grim atmosphere found in the manga (and anime).. I just hope the cast (whoever they will be) is up to this.

9. Imran Jaffery 02/21/2008 @ 4:20am

   Sure most indicators are this will not be very good, but just the fact that DiCaprio is attached is enough to sell me on this. The guy doesn’t align himself with bad projects so if he’s thinks it’s good I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. AICN is reporting that not only is he producing but he’s also starring Gordon-Levitt will be playing Tetsuo…not a bad cast there. I’m not sold on this Robinson fellow with what I’ve seen of his—but he’s got to be doing something right to land such a huge project.

10. Ichi-The-Killer 02/21/2008 @ 7:08am

    Is this gonna be shot all on a greenscreen? If not the budget would be like 200 mill, are they going to waste that on a first time director.

11. kinkybob 02/21/2008 @ 7:15am

    This is wrooong! DiCaprio? Get real! When I read that there was going to be a remake I was like “Oh fizzing YEAH!” But… once the words Leonardo DiCaprio came up…. and NEW MANHATTAN… I crashed and burned. Sigh. Give. Me. A. Break. How can Otomo let his happpeeeennn?!!!!?!?!

12. indiemaker0583 02/21/2008 @ 7:24am

    OMG!!! I hate hollywood, and I’m going to try really hard not to write anything anti-semitic. But I as someone who’s on the inside of the this awful industry, I am so f*cking sick of this stuff.

    Akira is destinctly Japanese, it can’t work anywhere else. Are they going to change the name too? Is Akira now going to be called Jim?  Those cash hungry Hollywood money men just want to capitilize on a huge fanbase even though they know nothing of the material. And because they have no respect for their audience, they think they’re being strategic by “appealing to a larger audience by moving the story to America.”

    
    Godzilla anyone? What was once an amazing, powerful anti-war film was turned into a piece of sh*t Jurassic Park clone. AARARH!

    Oh, and silent City is a piece of sh*t short film. Yeah, the special effects are cool, but so f*cking what? Akira is a spectacle, but it’s also a classic because it has a smart, mind blowing story. Silent City had none, it was like watching a cut scene from Call of Duty 4.

    I’m going to sound like a crazy man now, but I’m a screen writer who lived in Tokyo for a long time and was trying to shop around both a Speed Racer spec script and an Akira adaptation. Now my heart’s been broken twice. Cause both of these Americanized versions look like shit. And I’ll say, my vision of Speed Racer was both original and fitting to the original. Not this ultra gay, Hot Wheels cartoon coming out this summer. God, that thing looks like a Batman & Robin. Thank you Joel Silver.

    Oh, and will those cow f*cker Weinsteins stop insulting me with their awful Dragon Dynasty and Dimension Extreme releases. It’s offensive the way they TRY to cater to orientalists by putting in half naked Asian women on the DVD cover even though it doesn’t appear in the film. Infernal Affairs R1 DVD anyone?

13. crazybee 02/21/2008 @ 7:53am

    Hopefully they get a new director.  How could they hand something this huge and this beloved to a guy who’s only done a decent short film?

14. brbro4 02/21/2008 @ 8:07am

    Ugh. I can’t say I’m looking forward to this. I agree with indiemaker0583 that Akira is distinctly Japanese. I’m not saying they can’t squeeze a decent film out   of this, but it won’t be what it was intended to be. This might be great for people who know nothing about Akira the same way The Departed was great for people who never saw Infernal Affairs. However, for a fan such as myself who loves the manga and the anime, this news just crushed all my hopes and dreams of a live action adaptation that stayed true to the original.

15. GAPS 02/21/2008 @ 9:27am

    No, really now, as far as I remember, after going from repeated viewings of the anime to the manga, the thing that struck me most was how political the story is. There is a great deal of commentary on Japan’s military relationship with America. Then you’ve got cult leaders, a greater cultural acceptance of the biotechnology that could lead to such an event, etc, etc, that are all comments on Japanese society that in many respects are still pertinent today - I can’t actually fathom how the greater story is going to translate to an American setting. And if they are going for two films, then that does mean they intend to use a lot of those secondary plotlines, right?

16. indiemaker0583 02/21/2008 @ 9:38am

    Oh, looks like this is a major vanity project.

    I’ll say one semi good thing about all of this, Joseph Gordon Levitt has been confirmed now for Tetsuo. And I do love Joseph Gordon Levitt. He definetly has the capacity to play a character similar to Tetsuo. Although… While I’m sure he could play a geeky, tortured soul hell bent on destroying society.. He’s far too attractive. The guy’s become a major heart throb for women. I won’t someone who actually looks like they’re the type who’s treated like shit by everyone around them. Plus, I guess his character name won’t be tetsuo anymore huh?

    Oh, and different web sites are confirming Leo as being Kaneda. WHAT?!!!! Leo is what, 34 or something right? ANd he’s going to play a high school student. This keeps getting worse and worse.

    Seriously, Hollywood has no shame in stealing material, won’t they please just sell the rights to the name to another studio and just make this some unofficial rip off.

    How the fuck can this possibly be Akira?!!! How? Obviously, the name is going to have to change to better suit this. Unless all the actors are going to be tape their eye lids to the sides to make them look asian or something.

    
    So the basics will be there. Pyshic with powers after government experimentation, and telepathic link to a false god goes on rampage and former friends try to stop him. I mean, that could be any number of crappy sci-fi action films.

17. Helu0302 02/21/2008 @ 10:17am

    OK, New Manhatten and Di Caprio as Kaneda, both awful choices. New Manhatten being the worst choice. I have to agree with previous posters, the story is largely Japanese, post nukes. Being the only country to ever have Nukes dropped onit, that’s kind of the point.

    On the other hand Robinson getting to do a sci fi epic makes me super excited for this. Iv’e loved the three shorts iv’e seen from him, and this one fact makes me extremly excited for something I would otherwise only dread.
    And two movies is a good choice. A trilogy is too much and a single film could have issues, I think two is good.

18. Bench2020 02/21/2008 @ 10:37am

    I’m backing Ruairi on this one. Think he can do something pretty cool. Was very impressed with the three short films he made, one of which was oscar nominated which people should check out - ‘Fifty Percent Grey’.
    And indiemaker - what’s all this about Hollywood having no shame stealing material? Weren’t you hawking your own Akira and Speed Racer ideas?

19. Ard Vijn 02/21/2008 @ 10:51am

    About that Neo-Tokyo vs. New-Manhattan thing:

    It’s true that Japan is the only country that got nuked during a war, but New York has recently had it’s traumatic events as well.

    Won’t it be interesting to see what they do with the 9/11 context?
    Toppling Manhattan’s skyscrapers (“Fight Club”-like) is nowadays far less entertaining then before 2001, so I do think there is a wealth of material here to be explored.
    Not saying I’m sure it has merit, but it certainly has a fighting chance…

20. Gandalf Mantooth 02/21/2008 @ 10:24pm

    It’s like Oceans 11, where Sodeberg only used the name and the cache of the original but basically made a different film. I’m betting that those most pissed about Akira (will this even be called Akira in the end, and will it be pronounced Ah-keee-ra?) will be fans of the manga.

21. kinkybob 02/22/2008 @ 1:31pm

    DiCaprio as Kaneda?!!!! It gets worse and worse. I can stomach Levitt… though, I’m not overly fond of the idea. Hollywood should just leave good things ALONE! Hollywood just has to make a remake of awesome movies, animes, and mangas and funk it all to the depths of hell. I don’t think i can stomach anymore news about this disaster. I’m really steaming…

22. Survivestyle 02/24/2008 @ 5:02pm

    Jesus christ…no.

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