Akira is Heating Up

Akira is Heating Up

Deadline is reporting that the latest draft of the Akira screenplay, written by Steve Kloves (the adapter behind all but one of the Harry Potter films) and to be directed by Albert Hughes, has gone out to actors for a potential August production start.

News
By EdGross - Mar 21, 2011 08:03 PM EST
Filed Under: Anime & Manga
Source: Deadline

Says Deadline, "The story takes place in the rebuilt New Manhattan where a leader of a biker gang saves his friend from a medical experiment. There are two major roles, and I'm told that for Tetsuo, Robert Pattinson, Andrew Garfield and James McAvoy have been given the new script. For the role of Kaneda, the script has been given to Garrett Hedlund, Michael Fassbender, Chris Pine, Justin Timberlake and Joaquin Phoenix. The two leads are expected to come from that group of actors."

For more, follow the link.

ONE PUNCH MAN Live-Action Movie From Director Justin Lin Taps RICK AND MORTY Co-Creator Dan Harmon For Rewrite
Related:

ONE PUNCH MAN Live-Action Movie From Director Justin Lin Taps RICK AND MORTY Co-Creator Dan Harmon For Rewrite
FUNIMATION Becomes Just A Memory As All Links Now Redirect To CRUNCHYROLL
Recommended For You:

FUNIMATION Becomes Just A Memory As All Links Now Redirect To CRUNCHYROLL

DISCLAIMER: As a user generated site and platform, ComicBookMovie.com is protected under the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) and "Safe Harbor" provisions.

This post was submitted by a user who has agreed to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. ComicBookMovie.com will disable users who knowingly commit plagiarism, piracy, trademark or copyright infringement. Please CONTACT US for expeditious removal of copyrighted/trademarked content. CLICK HERE to learn more about our copyright and trademark policies.

Note that ComicBookMovie.com, and/or the user who contributed this post, may earn commissions or revenue through clicks or purchases made through any third-party links contained within the content above.

Do you have what it takes to write for us?
Want to contribute?
brokenexcitement
brokenexcitement - 3/21/2011, 8:26 PM
GOD!!! Not Robert "sparkley ass Edward" Pattinson!!! Anyone but him!!!



oh and......first? lol
sweetre15
sweetre15 - 3/21/2011, 8:30 PM
*facepalm* why!??!? Get it right or GTFO!
loganoneil
loganoneil - 3/21/2011, 8:31 PM
Are they going with the MANGA 'Akira' or the ANIME 'Akira'?! Has it been CONFIRMED?! Two TOTALLY different storylines! Either way, DON'T @#$! THIS UP!!!
BlackSands
BlackSands - 3/21/2011, 8:35 PM
Interesting.... they're gonna use white dudes to match up to the Asian names.... I bet a lot of people are gonna say "WTF?". They better Americanize the names or it ain't gonna work.... they may as well cast Asian Americans into the roles so they'll look the part with their names. Not being a racist here, but seriously, Kaneda and Tetsuo played by obvious white dudes? They better explain that one.
Warpath
Warpath - 3/21/2011, 8:36 PM
oo lord this gave me a stomach aick i hope its hedlund or mckovy as kaneda, and by the way who the hell is phonie and fassbender going to play
deadpool88
deadpool88 - 3/21/2011, 8:37 PM
Please god no, just leave it alone, just walk away
sweetre15
sweetre15 - 3/21/2011, 8:40 PM
@BlackSands: Agreed plus have they not noticed the criticism and bashing Airbender got for such things?
WellDrawn
WellDrawn - 3/21/2011, 8:51 PM
It'll only be worth seeing if they get someone like Zach Snyder to do it frame by frame from the Manga ala Watchmen or Sin City. It'll be 18 hours long but it's the only way to do it justice.
Luther
Luther - 3/21/2011, 8:57 PM
You all do know that the argument will arise of "It should'nt be about race" and comparisons to Dragon Ball:Evolution. To that I will say, Kaneda and Tetsuo...2 white guys? ....hahahahahahaha...yeah, no. how stupid does that look?! I agree with BlackSands, they're already Americanizing the setting. New Tokyo becomes New Manhattan, they need to go ahead and give the characters American names as well..like, Josh, Chris, Michael, or Adam haha.

Hollywood...just stop already hahaha
mk
mk - 3/21/2011, 8:58 PM
sounds horrible.. shame
DR3D
DR3D - 3/21/2011, 9:00 PM
Please no.
warlock
warlock - 3/21/2011, 9:05 PM
i hope its not true if it is i hope the actors that should go to is mcavoy or hedlund as keneda never pattinson he should die rite now.
TorturedXGenius
TorturedXGenius - 3/21/2011, 9:06 PM
here we go with the white washing..
Ceejay
Ceejay - 3/21/2011, 9:16 PM
Akira isn't something you can "westernise" into some Yank-version without losing everything that makes it quintessentially the Japanese tale that it is. The production behind this simply are doomed to fail and be upstaged by the Japanese one day doing the subject matter accurate justice. Hollywood needs to re-learn what it is to be original again! Can't believe they've actually gone this far already and cast full grown MEN in the role of what supposed to be KIDS!
sweetre15
sweetre15 - 3/21/2011, 9:19 PM
@Ceejay: Give them credit they havent cast anyone yet they are trying lol.

But I agree with what you said.
blankofthedead
blankofthedead - 3/21/2011, 9:24 PM
holly shit pheonix!? I'd love to see it, but none of these guys would look the part? Justin Chatwin maybe? Idk someone younger...
RacerREX
RacerREX - 3/21/2011, 9:46 PM
@ Darkmatter

"It rubs the lotion on it's skin then it places it in the basket... or else it gets the hose again!"



Just hand the director reigns over to M. Night. Shyamalan and change the characters name from Tetsuo to Aang. Only we will pronounce it ong. Add the all white cast except for one token Indian and it's all good!
Joe6Pack74
Joe6Pack74 - 3/21/2011, 10:16 PM
No "round-eyes" in the production.
Bryanferryfan
Bryanferryfan - 3/21/2011, 11:05 PM
I AGREE WITH TORTURED GENIUS... DON'T WHITE WASH IT... DO US A BIG FAVOR AND HAVE AN ALL JAPANESE CAST. ESPECIALLY AFTER WHAT HAPPENED IN JAPAN RECENTLY. DAMN, YOU KNOW IT'S ALRIGHT TO STICK TO CANON. IT DOESN'T TAKE PLACE IN AMERICA...IF YOU TELL THE PUBLIC THAT WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A BIG BUDGET VERSION OF AKIRA AND IT'S ALL IN SUBTITLES AND HAS JAPANESE ACTORS I THINK AMERICANS WILL BUY TICKETS... AND THE HUGHES BROS. OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD BE THE FIRST ONES TO OBJECT TO THE HIRING OF WHITE PEOPLE FOR THE LEADS. DAMN, THAT LIKE HAVING A WHITE DUDE PLAY THE BLACK PANTHER. C'MON ON MAN! YOU BYTCHES ARE BASTARDS!
gaikinger
gaikinger - 3/21/2011, 11:23 PM
its Albert Hughes for gods sake. all hope is lost. i would advise anyone from investing any emotion into this future Airbender.
Jer3miah
Jer3miah - 3/22/2011, 12:06 AM
Sounds like some jackass fan cast fueled by you idiots who eat it up as speculation, lol.
konoyaro
konoyaro - 3/22/2011, 2:13 AM
just leave AKIRA alone.the anime the manga...doesnt matter PLEASE BOLLYWOOD LEAVE IT ALONE.
you didnt succeed with MarioBros.you cant even do an americanized Anime like "last airbender"right,child stuff,AKIRA???just leave it the way it is.
animeex
animeex - 3/22/2011, 3:47 AM
BOMB! This sounds ruined from the start. They are still trying to get the comics right so I guess start ruining a new type of movie... Anime.
marvel72
marvel72 - 3/22/2011, 4:11 AM
akira anime = classic sci-fi animation

akira movie = watered down,westrenized piece of crap

leave well alone hollywood.
AlexDeLarge87
AlexDeLarge87 - 3/22/2011, 4:19 AM
...........?!8(
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 3/22/2011, 4:28 AM
Frak me, old ass actors. I knew they would make em a little older but Joaquin Phoenix?? Anyway, out of the names mentioned I like Garfield and probably Pine.
AlexDeLarge87
AlexDeLarge87 - 3/22/2011, 4:39 AM
Oh well if they wanna make them older i say Chris Pine as Kaneda and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tetsuo. THATS IT!:/

Pine has the cocky Leader attitude (If anyone has seen him as Capt. Kirk in Star trek) and Levitt has the creepy psycho little brother looks.
Just dont make them brothers! They are already kinda brothers cause they belong in the same gang!



gambgel
gambgel - 3/22/2011, 4:47 AM
James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender again?

Are they trying to have some troubles with Fox? :D
THEHAWK
THEHAWK - 3/22/2011, 7:18 AM
Seriously? Joaquin Phoenix? He is way too old for this!

I gotta question the validity of Deadline's source on that one.

I seriously hope that they are just [frick]ing with us on this
SanDevil77
SanDevil77 - 3/22/2011, 8:41 AM
@hawk dude i agree phoenix nd fassbender are way too old to play kaneda...hell these are supposed to be teenagers. are they still pushin for pg-13 or are they gonna make it R like it should be?
jazzman
jazzman - 3/22/2011, 1:57 PM
this is fricking stupid, so Hollywood cant tell me they aint no Asian-Americans actors at all.

this casting is just straight offensive even no black and Latinos have not given a chance for these role.

@SanDevil77

its still a PG-13
McFly13
McFly13 - 3/22/2011, 2:21 PM
I wish evil upon this movie!
DukeAcureds
DukeAcureds - 3/24/2011, 9:25 AM
So the new draft is still set in Neo Manhatten, which is presumably about to e-x-p-l-o-d-e.
But they are still called Kaneda and Tetsuo, even though they are getting white actors? Now, okay, it's not out of the realms of possiblility that a white guy can be given a Japanese name. Perfectly ordinary, but not exactly normal. It is the norm that white guys are not given Japanese names. So isn't anyone going to think it a strange coincidence that two guys who are best friends and from the same burg are both white guys whose parents decided to give them Japanese names?
Also, I'm guessing that they've simply decided to keep all the original names from the manga and anime, so isn't anyone going to find it an even bigger coincidence that every damn American in the flick (black, white, whatever) has a Japanese name. Everyone in New York? Come on!
[frick] this candy-assed flick.
Related Headlines
Latest Headlines

Hot Headlines Hot Headlines

Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Anime & Manga

Gaming

Horror

Cartoons & Animated Features

Action Movies & TV

Pro Wrestling & MMA News
View Recorder