THOR: RAGNAROK Director Taika Waititi In Talks To Helm Live-Action AKIRA Adaptation For Warner Bros.
It looks like that live-action Akira movie is officially back on at Warner Bros., and the studio is now said to be zeroing in on none other than Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi to helm the project.
After numerous false starts, it looks like Warner Bros. is once again attempting to get their planned adaptation of classic manga/anime Akira off the ground - but this time fans might just be happy with their choice to helm the picture.
Deadline reports that the studio is in negotiations with Thor: Ragnarok's Taika Waititi to direct, although they don't provide any additional details about how far these talks have progressed. Waititi has WWII dramedy Jojo Rabbit lined up next, anyway, so even if he does decide to sign on it'll probably be some time before this goes into production.
Akira is a very complex story, but at its core it's about two biker friends (brothers in the Americanized script) who find themselves becoming mortal enemies when one of them begins to develop apocalyptic psychic powers, and a God-complex to match.
Akira is still being produced by Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way, but we're not sure if the script by Book of Eli writer Gary Whitta is still in play.