Live Action Akira Movie Is Still Alive!

Live Action Akira Movie Is Still Alive!

Yes, folks, call it good news or bad, but we will be seeing Tetsuo, Kaneda et al on the big screen after all.

By MarkCassidy - Sep 08, 2009 10:09 AM EST
Filed Under: Anime & Manga
Source: firstshowing.net

Firstshowing(via collider) is reporting that the live action Akira movie has been resurrected with new writers. Collider confirms that Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, the guys who previously wrote "Children of Men" and "Iron Man," have been working on the script.

Collider says that Fergus and Ostby are "about to turn in their version of an Akira movie" and have been "hard at work trying to get the script right." As for the story, apparently it's still set in a post-apocalyptic "New Manhattan" (as opposed to Tokyo in the anime), as was originally announced in 2008, and will include the iconic motorcycle.

If all goes well and the writers turn in a studio approved script, the movie could go into production in 2010 with a 2011 release date.



Being a huge fan of the Anime and the earlier cartoon version, I am a bit dubious about the Americanization of the location and characters. But if the script manages to be true to the essence of the story and still keep that Akira feel to it, then I'll be happy. So I'm going to remain optimistic about this one until further notice!
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ThisFan
ThisFan - 9/8/2009, 10:10 AM
wow there has barley been work but and it looks like it wont be out till about 2014
GUNSMITH
GUNSMITH - 9/8/2009, 10:13 AM
I WONDER IF WE'LL STILL BE ALIVE AFTER 2012..
Stumblin
Stumblin - 9/8/2009, 10:15 AM
I would hope they'd leave this one alone, one of the few Anime movies I enjoyed (never read the books). This doesn't need live action treatment, let it be the classic it is.
TucsonRican
TucsonRican - 9/8/2009, 10:19 AM
Wasn't Leo attached to this? In a producer mode? (too old to play a gang leader...)
Boogie138
Boogie138 - 9/8/2009, 10:41 AM
@ sirprize: a live action last exile would rock out, but would have to be a trilogy and don't think a major studio would take the time to develop a anime like that with the care it deserves. "not enough action" anime gets pushed to the wayside, because dragon ball is a much better idea...

hollywood doesn't get anime, it's been proven time and time again. and those filmakers that do won't get a chance in the hotseat. it's a cruel universe
supersteveprime18
supersteveprime18 - 9/8/2009, 10:49 AM
yeah whats this about, never heard of it. any good?
supermarioworldE
supermarioworldE - 9/8/2009, 11:03 AM
The anime was awesome. I hope they (Hollywood) don't mess it up by making it a live action adaptation.
darkclaw89
darkclaw89 - 9/8/2009, 11:17 AM
Akira's a kid with mentally/genetically enhanced powers(read Godlike) developed by the military and who is the strongest among the other such kids,he is worshipped by some,feared by others but his existence or wherebouts are unknown until the very end of the movie,this mind you is just some fact about who akira is and not the backdrop of the story.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 9/8/2009, 11:33 AM
@ weiner and supersteve

Akira, is actually not in the movie until the VERY end, and even then it only shows his face. he's basically a kid with mental powers who, for lack of a better explanation, reached a level of pure energy. he became like a god. the actual movie is about a group of teens. one of these teens begins showing signs of having the kind of power that Akira had.

but explaining this movie on this site would be a physical impossibility. there is so much to this thing, that most people have to watch it 3 or 4 times to fully understand everything that is going on. thats why this will never work as a live action, american made movie. this will more than likely be a horrible piece of steaming crap. i definately recommend the anime though!

if they really want to make an anime into a live action, they should make Ninja Scroll. its a pretty straight forward movie. but something like this will never work as well as the original anime. just no way...
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 9/8/2009, 11:35 AM
Also, Akira is not the main protagonist. Thats a gang leader named Kaneda and some resistance fighters Kay and Ryu. As well as His friend Tetsuo..who becomes a psychic nutcase.
SkunkApe1
SkunkApe1 - 9/8/2009, 11:35 AM
Check this site out:

http://www.matus1976.com/akira_bike/index.htm

This is a regular guy like us who wants the Kaneda bike from AKIRA and is (has been) building it himself. Very ambitious and my hat is off to him.

Building it in his garage, figuring it all out for himself.
retr0g0dfather
retr0g0dfather - 9/8/2009, 11:54 AM
I love Akira, it doesn't need the live action treatment unless they make it like the anime. Blood The Last Vampire is a great example of why they should leave Akira alone, they would only F**k it up! I do belive Ninja Scroll would be a better prodject to work on, it is straight forward, hell any anime would be great if they make'em like the anime themselves. To Americanize Akira is retarded an I'm american, I don't understand why my country has to take away and capitalize on a masterpiece from another country by rewritting and changing what was already Golden.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 9/8/2009, 11:58 AM
@ ror

its funny, because i love the beginning of this movie better than the second half. when it shows their gang fighting the clowns. it was just a really good way of showing you the brutality that this movie is going to have, y'know? because those bike fights were brutal!
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 9/8/2009, 12:01 PM
@ retro

didn't get to see Blood, it didn't play in my town. so it wasn't good? and also, i just don't think this can be made into a movie and do the anime justice, some people said Watchmen was the "unfilmable" comic. well watchmen didn't have nearly as much confusing things going on as akira does. i just don't see it working as live action.
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 9/8/2009, 12:57 PM
Cmon guys, this was always going to be rejigged for Hollywood. It doesn't nesseccarilly mean it will suck just because its relocating the story. Look at Constantine..relocated from England to America but still worked because it kept the nature of what made Hellblazer a great comic. I know Akira is very much about that Japanese Manga vibe and there is a chance that will be lost, but i think if they give it a Blade Runner type look and feel then that should work.

Anyway, its far too early to comment either way. Casting will be a big deal. Joseph Gordon Levitt was originally up for Tetsuo and i thought that was pretty good casting. Not so much Leo as Kaneda though, considering he's pushing 40 and Kaneda is supposed to be 17!
LukeStar
LukeStar - 9/8/2009, 1:00 PM
as long as they keep to the story and don't [frick] anything it will be good for me. Like Rorschach01 said if they give a Blade Runner feel it'll work.
AlexDeLarge87
AlexDeLarge87 - 9/8/2009, 1:22 PM
If they get the right guys on board
it might be awesome! Or not!...
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 9/8/2009, 1:50 PM
@ ror is leo really almost 40??? wow. and i mean, if they pull a zach snyder and do it word for word, scene for scene, then it could work. only problem with that is zach snyder is the only director known for doing that lol. i want this to be good, i just think its a lost cause, thats all
delpoi
delpoi - 9/8/2009, 2:19 PM
they shouldn't touch what i would class as the bible of all anime films its just wrong wrong wrong....oh yea and wrong some more...a plague on all your houses for this blaspheme!!!!
LEEE777
LEEE777 - 9/8/2009, 2:25 PM
Cool, but i hope they don't do a HOLLYWOOD on this or in the words of GRIF,,, it will SUCK!

I never thought this would ever be made but then again i thought that too with WATCHMEN!

Cant wait!
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 9/8/2009, 2:51 PM
I may have been adding a few years on the chap there CDB! I know hes late 30s anyway.

delpoi all the fanboys said the same thing about LOTR. "Its the bible of fantasy, they will miss the point, Jackson should hang" Fast forward a few years watch them shut the [frick] up. If these guys involved are true fans then they will make a good movie..at least by most standards, as you well know, you cant ever please some people.
CrashTest
CrashTest - 9/8/2009, 4:04 PM
I would rather Stephen Chow do this movie, like he should of down Dragon Ball Z. I am really not a fan of Franchises like this being Americanized. Its already a bad sign to me that the story will take place in post-apocalyptic New Manhattan, opposed to Tokyo. I would much rather see Japanese Actors in the roles beside Caucasian Americans. I dont have high hopes for this film, I dont think it will be giving the justice it deserves, but you never know and I would like to be proven wrong.
Betty
Betty - 9/8/2009, 5:42 PM
We should coin a new phrase, "Let sleeping legends lie".

Not really for this or the location change. Why not New Tokyo instead of Nuevo York. Are they going to be American guys? Thomas and Kenneth. Thhooooooooomasss!!...doesnt sound right


kennneeethh...
Bandrews1
Bandrews1 - 9/8/2009, 6:14 PM
I loved both the manga and the anime, and the only way I'll see this is if they keep the main characters as teenagers and stay true to the material as close as possible.
retr0g0dfather
retr0g0dfather - 9/8/2009, 7:11 PM
Corndogburgler @ Blood The Last Vampire was pretty bad. What made it bad wasn't the fact that it hardly matched the Manga, it was bad cause the FX's looked outdated kinda like GI Joe but worse. The Anime is awesome, I absolutly love it, didn't care to much for the T.V. show they had, maybe the movie revolved more around that instead of the Anime movie. If they followed the Anime movie (eventhough it is short) and had used up to date FX's, then it would have rocked! I felt like all the Dragon Ball fans did after they saw Evolution, yeah I felt like crying cause it was so awfull and nothing like I hoped it would be.
theeambassador
theeambassador - 9/8/2009, 10:01 PM
amen...let sleeping legends lie...i would hate to have this story dumbed down and then listen to some idiot tell me how awesome it is because of the effects , and the only reason i hate it is because i love the source material... the anti-geeks are taking over, some shit wasn't meant for the mainstream and when you water it down for mass consumption, the shit gets [frick]ing weak! like mohawks being mainstream now, that shit just look corny now, let sleeping legends die indeed
Joe6Pack74
Joe6Pack74 - 9/8/2009, 11:23 PM
Please no. Not every anime and comic needs to be live action. Just do Neon Genesis Evangelion and Green Lantern then call it a decade and stop.
CaptainPretender
CaptainPretender - 9/9/2009, 7:11 AM
I might sound like an idiot but when i went to go see Inglorious Bastards i almost thought the new Chritopher Nolan flick was Akira.But i really hope this is going to be good.Then again Akira's crazy enormaous monster that Tetsuo turned into at the end might be replaced with some [frick]ing SQUID atomic bomb or something
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 9/9/2009, 7:58 AM
@ betty

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

KEENNNNEEEETTTTTHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! LMAO

thats a good point though, lol, will they be americans in these roles?? that would be the worst...actually, what would be worse is if the american characters had japanese names, lol. you're looking at someone that you know is named peter, or steve, but they're calling him kaneda? oh man this is bad
Betty
Betty - 9/9/2009, 4:56 PM
CorndogBurglar--funny, I didnt think of that. That's way worse.

"Hey why do you have such a strange name?"

Kaneda: "Yo yo! My parents is from Japan, son. I'm from S. Bronx, wicca what!? Now!"

Yeah, I went overboard.
MarkCassidy
MarkCassidy - 9/11/2009, 11:34 AM
Oh ye of little faith! What i meant by the Blade Runner thing was that Neo Manhatten could be completely Japanese-ized. So, its set in America with American actors, but like Blade Runner, their society is completely integrated with a Japanese culture..names and all! Problem solved, I'll have my cheque now please movie folk.
mormuno01
mormuno01 - 8/17/2010, 4:21 PM
I had no idea this was the way it was. I have now changed my views. Affiliate Dot Com
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