Live Action Akira Greenlit
Penguin February 21st, 2008
Some of you may remember when I mused about a live action Akira. Well, it looks like two films have been greenlit. It’s rumored that Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way will be producing and DiCaprio will play Kaneda. Joseph Gordon Levitt is set to play Tetsuo. And instead of being set in Neo-Tokyo, it’s going to be in Manhattan. Ruairi Robinson is set to direct.
Here are examples of Robinson’s work:
Silent City
50 Percent Grey
Well, it looks like my plans for an Akira trilogy are shot. I hope they do it justice.
Update: I’m actually really disappointed that they’re making this. I was looking forward to pouring my creative juices into an anime that I loved from my childhood. I used to watch Akira at least once a month during the summer. When the DVD came out, I was hesitant to watch it because I was so used to the English dub.
Now, I fear that they’re going to take it in a direction that’s good, but not good enough and my chances of making it will completely shot. If the films do well, then I’ll never get a chance. If the films do poorly, studios will be afraid to finance it. If I do get the chance, it’ll probably be 25-30 years down the line, as a remake.
I had actually wrestled with the idea of whether I should westernize the story or not. I had eventually decided that westernization would be a poor decision.
One of the major plot elements, especially from the manga, is the religious aspect. America is too Judeo-Christian for some of the Akira cults in the manga. This is not to say that they can’t work around it, but it would lose a lot of its flavor.
Another aspect is the use of Manhattan. I can kind of understand why they chose it. The city is iconic. But is it the right city for Akira? I don’t think so. I think LA would’ve been a better choice. The image of biker gangs roaming the highways and sprawl of LA just works. Amongst the skyscrapers in NYC, they just get lost.
I think what’s really getting me down is the loss of hope and possibility. There was potential as long a live action didn’t exist yet. Now? What’s the point. And that makes Penguin a sad panda.
- Penguin
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