Dane DeHaan And Michael Pitt Were (Are?) Finalists To Play Tetsuo In AKIRA

Ahh.... GOD.

is that the guy from Chronicle? lol such a coincidence... :P

laaame

NoRegrets - "I don't see any reason they have to be Japanese. After all, this isn't a Japanese movie being shown to solely Japanese audiences the way the original anime was."

If you use your line of thinking then why call the film Akira? An entirely Western cast but they title the film after a person that spends less than 5 minutes on screen.
That makes perfect sense lol!

@NoRegrets -
Spend two hundred million dollars on an all asian cast film and release it in the US. See how fast you DON'T make your money back.

If reports are correct then the budget will about $10.

And why is it that Animie featuring not a single Western character was so popular in the West? Is Hollywood scared that an all Asian cast will confuse Western audiences? Are Western audiences racist? Is that what Hollywood is implying?

First off to the person who not only had the gusto to ask what is Akira but also say that no one gave a crap about it before the movie news...your freaking insane. I have had Akira in my movie collection since I was a little boy when my uncle gave it to me. Alot of people who about Akira and have seen it so to say or even imply something like this is completely stupid. Just because you are ignorant to what it is doesn't mean everyone else is.

Then to the people who keep wondering why it should be an almost all asian cast, considering not only the names of the characters but the setting thats your answer. People and Hollywood can't say that movies with casts that don't feature mainly white people don't sell because that is a lie. Anime is full of mainly asian people and America and the rest of the world does not mind that. There is no need to change the story or the characters considering people liked them enough to cause a studio to want to adapt it into a feature length movie. I hate to say it like this but I would much rather not see an anime adapted if its going to be white washed. I've been pissed off at every anime adapted by an American to date because the asian characters are made white and the look and story are all changed to fit that.

CHRONICLE ACTOR IS A DEFINITE PICK BUT IF I WAS THAT ACTOR I WOULD WATCH THE ANIME THEN REALLY READ THAT SCRIPT.. HE LOOKS LIKE A UP AND COMER

I understand people's anger, after all this IS the first time an American studio has planned to remake a foreign property isn't it? Hows dare they!!

if the movie is GOOD, the script is GOOD, and there is a GOOD director, it could have a bunch of no name actors in it and it will be amazing!!! the fact that they will choose white actors over asian actors is just pathetic and DOES NOT help a film... see Last Airbender.

WB takes no risks... they are the KINGS of safe play. i worked as an art director for them for 8 years and the things i witnessed were so pathetic it made me leave.

@cole33 that is completely true, BUT then they should tell the same story and package it as something different. NOT calling it "Akira."

@RorMachine

Give it up man...

"I understand people's anger, after all this IS the first time an American studio has planned to remake a foreign property isn't it? Hows dare they!!"

You're twisting the conversation, Ror. We are talking American studios remaking an anime. I think there is a big difference between remaking an anime and remaking a live action film. It is not the first time an American studio has remade an anime (there's been a few), but please give us an example of where it has been successful. ;-)

@RaleighAntrobus EXCELLENT point(s)!

I cannot believe the #1 complaint about this movie being made is that people want Asian actors. THAT supersedes all else?

You all must have been up in arms when Jessica Alba was cast as Sue Storm, or Nancy Callahan. I'm assuming the same reaction to Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin. Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury (yes he was originally WHITE). Eva Mendes as Roxanne Simpson. And oh my frickin' goodness you must have lost your MINDS when a Brit was playing Peggy Carter.

...

Yeah, didn't think so. Be concerned about the quality of the actor before anything else. I have watched a ton of anime growing up (still enjoy it to this day), and guess what.. except for period pieces like Grave of the Fireflies, they are almost never racially motivated. They are story motivated. And that is what we should all be concerned about, how they handle the story and how well they intend to translate that to the big screen. On the other hand, I absolutely support finding undiscovered talent, and here in the states the *usage* of good Asian actors is lacking.. so it'd be nice, but it's not a deal breaker for me.