After two plus decades, Warner Bros. has officially dropped their Akira live-action movie and the rights have reverted back to IP holder Kodansha.
We’ve covered the long-running attempts at somehow making Katsuhiro Otomo’s legendary sci-fi classic into a live-action, feature film, for years now. After dozens of directors, actors, screenwriters, and millions were invested in pre-production by Warner, they’ve cut their losses and dropped the project.
Now that the Akira live-action movie has been dropped by Warner, the rights to a film adaptation have reverted back to Kodansha, the publisher of the original 1982 manga that was used for its anime film, which released later in 1988.
Warner originally nabbed the rights to the Akira live-action movie way back in 2002 and had Blade filmmaker Stephen Norrington to direct with Jon Peters producing. That fell apart and numerous big names came and went, though Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson remained producers until the end.
Though big-name Japanese star Ken Watanabe was in negotiations to star, other actors and like Kirsten Stewart and Helena Bonham-Carter led to accusations the film was being white-washed amidst other changes. In one version Neo Tokyo, the original manga/anime film’s setting, was changed to Neo Manhattan.
Most recently Taika Waititi was attached to write and direct and that version reportedly went as far as even getting California film tax credits and even had a release date at one point. That version reportedly focused on having an all-Japanese cast, and had casting reps scouring Japan for talent.
Akira is a watershed release for both manga and anime and its influence on culture worldwide is impossible to calculate. Its story is set in post-apocalyptic Tokyo with Tetsuo, a teenage who discovers he has dangerous telekinetic abilities and the only one to stop him is his childhood friend, Kaneda.
Despite the Akira live-action movie seemingly being dead now after Warner Bros. walked away – producers and other talent are reportedly “lining up” to attach themselves to the project, to get it greenlit again elsewhere at rival studios and streaming platforms.
