What a strange day for Warner Bros. First, rumors explode today that they’re giving the heave-ho to Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are, and now word arrives that they’ve greenlit two ambitious live-action films based on the landmark Japanese manga and anime Akira, with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way producing. Mere rumor is he may star as the lead character, Kaneda, in the franchise, which will be set in New Manhattan, “a new metropolis rebuilt after being destroyed 31 years earlier.” The first film is being fast tracked for summer 2009.
After months of speculation, young Irish director Ruairi Robinson (pronounced Raw-Ree) will direct. We’ve included two of his rather violent, trippy, head-shot lovin’ short films, Fifty Percent Grey and The Silent City, below, so as for you to get acquainted. Variety reports that the filmmakers pitched the flicks as “Blade Runner meets City of God,” which is a modestly fitting description for the 1988 film, a kinetic, dystopian vision where young motorcycle gangs roam Neo-Tokyo (rather than New Manhattan) post-nuclear war and all hell breaks loose when one is exposed to a government experiment, thus gaining menacing powers.
Update: AICN reports that Joseph Gordon Levitt has been cast in the role Tetsuo, the motorcycle gang member who develops aforementioned menacing psychokinetic powers. They also report as if Leonardo DiCaprio is definitely a lock for the lead character of Kaneda.
The films will be adapted from creator Katsuhiro Otomo’s six volume manga, which provides far more storyline, characters and franchise potential than the classic anime adaptation alone. This news has been a long time coming, so it’s cool to see how inspired and charged-up it is, especially with Robinson’s involvement. I’m not too big on remaking old visions of the world’s future, but it’s Akira, so hey, it’s an exception. View his short films after the jump.
The Silent City
Fifty Percent Grey
February 20th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
Are Warner Brothers going to complain when they thought Akira was a cartoon and therefore would make a good live action kids film, and complain when the tone is too dark.
February 20th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
lol cilian murphy is in silent night.
good stuff.
February 20th, 2008 at 8:39 pm
ugh…Il admit im interested…but why does it have to be “New manhattan” instead of Neo-Tokyo….kinda bugs me
February 20th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
I loved the original, but this is just a bad idea. Leo as Kaneda? “New Manhattan” instead of Neo Tokyo? No. I love America, and am the most patriotic guy around, but some things should just not be Americanized. I feel this is an incredibly bad idea, the only way they could do a live action Akira movie is with Japanese actors and have it follow the storyline. (Especially since in Akira you could tell the characters were japanese, unlike other anime with blondes and caucasian looking characters) This is another bad idea for WB, especially after the WTWTA plans….
February 20th, 2008 at 8:59 pm
saw sileent city a year ago and loved it, Robinson is a talent. with levitt & dicaprio this could be fucking great. blade runner meets city of god?!?! im in!
February 20th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
I’m interested. This is one of my favorite movies of all time, animated or not.
February 20th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
i love anime and i really dont mind when hollywood westernize characters and locations, but having “New Manhattan” as a backdrop, you gotta be kidding me. if they could capture the feeling of neo-tokyo, then i wouldnt mind.
honestly, im looking forward to this project and im glad hollywood is finally recognizing anime & manga and turning them into live action films.
February 20th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Personally, I dig New Manhattan. The actors are both Americans (if the rumors coming in are true) and America itself faces a much different future than it did in 1988 when Akira came out. And this will only increase the popularity of the original, which I haven’t watched in about seven years.
Maybe the long-rumored anime-effect on Hollywood is finally taking hold, what with Speed Racer (and its obvious genre influences beyond the source material).
February 20th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
i think the reason why i’m not digging the “New Manhattan” because every film dealing with end of the world or some crazed destruction is always in new york. honestly, its the perfect american city to be destoryed or some post-apocalyptic hell on film.
February 20th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
I await the day Ghost In The Shell and Evangelion are made into live action films!
February 20th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
@ Gregory
This is totally true. I agree.
Howevs, my feeling is that Robinson will combine aspects of Neo-Tokyo with New Manhattan, and man, those visions blooms inside my head. This won’t be John Carpenter’s New York (which I more than love), I think it will be fresh.
And envisioning Levitt and DiCaprio rushing around NYC on superbikes and leaving trippy light trails is kinda cool. Again, if the speculation is on the money. Must be the moon, but it feels like it is.
February 20th, 2008 at 10:58 pm
The fact that they’re adapting from the manga makes me actually have high hopes for this project. Though the Americanization of it makes me wince, I guess that’s to be expected. I can deal with a new backdrop if it stays somewhat true to the original manga. Otomo’s manga was so much more detailed and vivid than the ‘89 movie, and that movie’s a classic in it’s own right.
February 20th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
No offense, but who is this director again? If they are giving him 2 Akira movies based on those 2 shorts then what am I doing with my life?!
That was paint-by-numbers filmmaking with a couple special effects that someone other than the director did with some money thrown at it. So basically because these shorts had ’sci-fi futuristic THX1138′ elements and so does Akira then he’s the guy to direct them?
If they want Blade Runner meets City of God maybe they should give it to Fernando Meirelles or Alfonso Cuarón…
February 21st, 2008 at 2:00 am
To Frank:
If you look into the director instead of just saying the first thing you think of you’d find out that he did all the vfx and animation himself.
February 21st, 2008 at 2:11 am
For the love of God, no!! Why Americanise it?? I hate it when this happens.
They could at least have hired some decent Japanese/Chinese actors who can speak English.
February 21st, 2008 at 7:57 am
I’m excited, yet reserved. This could easily be screwed up (making it take place in the US is NOT a good start.) They will need a rather large budget and an excellent special effects team for this to work properly…anime—>live action is a tough gig.
http://www.livingwithanerd.com
February 21st, 2008 at 8:37 am
Did anyone else feel the first one was basically an excuse to show off his effects skills? Given the source material I would hope this guy can pull of story and not just eye candy. There can only be one director who can sacrifice everything for eye candy, he has an awesome bbq and an awesome pool.
February 21st, 2008 at 9:43 am
Stuff gets Americanized all the time. Just that this time they want to do it to one of the most popular pieces of anime & manga ever produced. Robotech was Americanized, and look what happened? How much fun is this gonna be? Leo’s doin’ Akira, and Toby Maguire’s gonna do Robotech. You know those two guys are total freakin’ fanboys who grew up with the stuff, so do you really think they’ll screw up the sources? I have faith, gang.
February 21st, 2008 at 9:49 am
I hope they still say, “huh?” alot.
February 21st, 2008 at 10:22 am
What I mean is they will dilute it/dumb it down to a level where it’s just a flashy special effects film. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if Akira is omitted completely from the story… or te end of the film where Tetsuo is consumed by his power and grows to enormous proportions.
February 21st, 2008 at 10:44 am
@XdarXidex
DiCaprio wouldn’t embarrass himself with this franchise, especially if he stars. And he’s a fan of the source material. He’s also competing with Maguire’s Robotech, and I’m sure these dudes are as fed up with lame PG-13 action flicks as we all are. He doesn’t have to do some mega budget Roland Emmerich-type disaster film for the plebes, and this won’t be I feel. They name-checked two classic R-rated films, so that tells you something.
Exclude Akira? Doubtful.
Robinson’s short films are DIY and show-off his skill set so larger flicks come his way. There’s good industry/creative buzz around him, and when a director hasn’t yet pulled off a feature, such strong word of mouth is usually a sign that he’s the real deal. Akira is a huge investment, why else give it to him?
February 21st, 2008 at 11:59 am
Why is Akira an execption? That flick was classic in it’s own right. What’s next remaking blade Runner into a CGI movie?
February 21st, 2008 at 12:30 pm
@ Seb
No, but if someone wanted to revisit “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” and explore the many aspects of the original source material not seen in Blade Runner and even do the film in CGI, why not? That could very well be awesome.
February 21st, 2008 at 12:36 pm
My first reaction to this news “NO! Leave it alone.”
Akira was my introduction into a more violent
and adult Anime world. I read the comic and
saw Akira when it was released out here in the
theaters, which was an extrodinary experience.
I would rather they not Americanize it.
This could turn out to be really good, but I’m keeping
my expectations low.
February 21st, 2008 at 12:40 pm
@Seb
Normally I’d agree with you, but there was a giant wealth if plot, characterization and action that was left out of the ‘89 movie. The manga was very long and very intricate - personally, I feel if they’re basing this live action thing off that, it doesn’t seem much like a ‘remake’ at all. Was ‘I Am Legend’ a remake of ‘Omega Man’ because it had the same source material?
February 21st, 2008 at 12:46 pm
What’s the budget on this? I see Sin City 2.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:29 pm
They’ll never top the soundtrack.
February 21st, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Silent City is just great for a short film, it has a lot from the style Akira has!
February 21st, 2008 at 3:02 pm
how do you make a movie called “Akira” set in the US, starring white people? are we really THAT ethnocentric that it couldn’t star japanese actors?
are they over there in japan remaking “The Color Purple” with japanese cast? “Akira” is one of the greatest manga ever, and the film still holds up as a high-water mark in animation… what a sign of disrespect…
February 22nd, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Quick note: Ruairi is not pronounced Raw-Ree.
Its Rur-Ree
I’m Irish ;)
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:03 am
So, will they call the movie “David” instead of “Akira”? Since they will be replacing the Japanese characters with Americans why should the movie have a Japanese boy’s name?
April 19th, 2008 at 6:07 pm
I’m scared. With Leo as the lead, I don’t see how I’m going to like this movie.
People who probably haven’t seen Akira will like it but for the ones that have seen the anime-adaption.. it might be a little hard.
Kind of breaks my hearts. America… is really good at messing up Japanese things. Not just dub’s though those do suck.
Yeah, everything will probably be changed to make it look as if it was originally a American idea. Kind of like most asian-movie remakes.
They might call him Kyle. That’d be neat. Or, they can do the same thing they did with The Last Samurai. That was great, wasn’t it?
June 24th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Ruairi Robinson? An irish director who make toothpaste commercial is directing this film? We are soooo fucked!! This will never be sucessfully invision thru the eyes of a rookie fim makers who never direct a high budget hollywood film not to mention that he never even directed a full lenght movie before. We need the likes of Steven Spielberg for fuck sakes. What does this world coming to??