Taika Waititi On AKIRA: "I Think Eventually It Will Happen, I’m Just Not Sure If I’ll Be Doing It"

Thor: Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi has provided an update on his planned live-action adaptation of Akira, and while he may get to it eventually, it sounds like it's far from a sure thing...

By MarkCassidy - Feb 12, 2020 01:02 PM EST

Filed Under: Akira

It was announced late last year that Warner Bros.' long-gestating live action Akira adaptation had been pushed back after the latest director to be attached to the project, Taika Waititi, signed on to helm Thor: Love and Thunder for Marvel. Since then, the filmmaker has maintained that he is still on board, but he doesn't sound quite as certain in this latest interview.

Variety asked Waititi where things currently stand on Akira, and the Kiwi director didn't seem very confident that he'd ever get to make the movie.

"We had to keep pushing the dates, and it encroached on the Thor dates, which were immovable," Waititi told Variety. "So Akira ended up shifting two years down the track. I think eventually it will happen. I’m just not sure if I’ll be doing it."

It would be a shame if Waititi never got the chance to see this project to fruition, because he's a massive fan of Katsuhiro Otomo's original manga, and we know he was planning to cast race-appropriate actors in the lead roles.

Check out the most recent character breakdown below (the names were altered for the casting call), and let us know if you're still - or were ever - on board with a live-action Akira film in the comments.

Simply click on the next button below!

Jun/Kaneda

Jun (Lead): Male, 18-24 Male, to play Japanese, English speaking. Must be legal 18-20’s to play 18:

Sharp-eyed, sinewy, tough, handsome, cool. He is the leader of a street gang of teenagers & knows how to have a good time. JUN should not be too cool or too tough. He’s a scrappy, ragtag kid who’s not worried about anything. Your weird, natural authentic self is encouraged! LEAD.

The first side is for "Jun," but based on the description it has to be Kaneda. We had been led to believe that the latest script draft had aged-up the main players significantly, but it looks like they'll be portrayed as being just a couple of years older than they were in the original manga.

Kochi/Tetsuo

KOICHI (Lead): Male, 18-24 Male, to play Japanese, English speaking. Must be legal 18-20’s to play 17:

Constantly forced to punch up in order to survive. He’s fearless to the point of recklessness. He is haunted by the loss of a loved one. LEAD.

This is almost certainly Kaneda's best friend Tetsuo, who emerges as the main antagonist of the story. Earlier incarnations of the film changed their relationship to make them brothers, so it's nice to see that's been dropped here.

Misa/Kei

MISA (Lead): Female, 18-30 Female, to play Japanese, English speaking. Must be legal 18-30:

Beautiful, intelligent, strong-willed. She is a member of an anti-government organization trying to save her city. LEAD.

This has got to be Kei; resistance fighter and eventual love interest to Kaneda. She also has some untapped psychic abilities in the original manga.

Reina/Kaoiri

REINA (Supporting): Female, 18-24 Female, to play Asian, English speaking (Japanese a plus). Must be legal 18-20’s to play 17:

Gentle, kind, cute, compassionate. She is a member of a biker gang & cares deeply for Koichi. SUPPORTING LEAD.

The characters' true identities start to get a bit less obvious from here, but we're pretty sure this is Tetsuo's love-interest and ultimately the only person that can control him, Kaori.

Yakamatsu/Yamagata

YAKAMATSU (Supporting): Male, 18-24 Male, to play Asian, English speaking (Japanese a plus). Must be legal 18-20’s to play 18:

Large, tough, loyal, short-fused. A member of Jun’s gang & a close friend. SUPPORTING LEAD.

We assume this is supposed to be Yamagata, who is Kaneda's muscle in the manga/anime and harbors a deep distrust of Tetsuo.

Yuki/Kai

YUKI (Supporting): Male, 18-24 Male, to play Asian, English speaking (Japanese a plus). Must be legal 18-20’s to play 16:

A small, clever, brainy technical wiz, he is the youngest member of Jun’s street gang. SUPPORTING LEAD.

Again, just a guess here, but based on the description we reckon this is Kaisuke, who is the most technically minded of the gang in the original story.

Gen/Takashi

GEN (Supporting): Male, 10-12 Male, to play Asian, English speaking (Japanese a plus), age 10:

A small, mysterious boy on an urgent mission; he is humble, shy, compassionate & wise beyond his years. SUPPORTING LEAD.

This is either Takashi or Masaru, but the "urgent mission" part has us leaning towards the former. Takashi is an esper: a young child with vast physic powers who is being experimented on and used as a weapon by the government.

Aimi/Kiyoko

AIMI (Supporting): Female, 10-12 Female, to play Asian, English speaking (Japanese a plus), age 10:

A mysterious girl on an urgent mission; she is kind, gentle, compassionate & wise beyond her years. SUPPORTING LEAD.

Another esper, this is almost certainly Kiyoko. There are three of these physic kids in the manga/anime, but it looks like they may have decided to drop the wheelchair-bound Masaru for the movie.

THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER Director Taika Waititi's AKIRA Adaptation Is Reportedly Moving Forward

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GhostDog - 2/12/2020, 1:10 PM I think at this point, I'd rather they not do it. Some things should be left alone. We're getting a live action Cowboy Bebop and that just sounds weird when ya say it. Make a 6-12 part adaptation of everything you can cram in from the original manga (which is LONG AS [frick]) and turn it into an HBO ANIME EVENT series produced by the best anime studio you can find. Obviously do a Japanese version but also get some dope big Hollywood names for the English dubbed cast. The more you delay it and its drenched in uncertainty, the more interest wanes. Taika is a real fan and I think he would make this with the sort of care that maybe another director wouldn't. Login to report abuse
bobevanz - 2/12/2020, 1:55 PM @BlackBeltJones - I wish HBO animation would come back, Madhouse doing the Spawn series was a true delight Login to report abuse

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