Every time I hear a news story about a western live-action adaptation of an anime/manga series, (as opposed to such productions as live-action Cromartie High, Nana, and God forbid, Dragonball Z: The Magic Begins) it's either a story that some director or producer have optioned the rights to the property in question (like James Cameron and live-action Battle Angel Alita), or that pre-production has hit some snag or hasn't even begun (like live-action Evangelion).File this one under "never say never"... According to Bloody Disgusting, Warner Bros. Pictures is hot to get the ball rolling on its live action remake of Katsuhiro Otomo's anime/manga classic Akira before the writers' strike becomes an issue. Reportedly, Irish director Ruairi Robinson (The Silent City) will be helming the project.
Back in 2003, Stephen Norrington (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) was attached to direct a version of the film, written by James Robinson.
In Akira, Otomo presented a vision of Tokyo destroyed by war, rebuilt, and now ready to explode under the pressure of its internal strife. The movie's clashing biker gangs and heady psychic visions became an early testament to the violent, mature side of anime when the film was brought to North America in 1989.
The anime movie is currently available in North America through Geneon. The manga, which was started before and finished after the anime, is available through Dark Horse.
Personally... the project is banished to development/legal hell, but I would rather see Guillermo del Toro's take on Otomo's claustrophobic Akira-precursor Domu.
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I haven't seen a single news story about anyone being definitely being cast in a part in any of these movies (as compared to say, the latest Star Trek flick... which so far sounds like it's going to be complete shite BTW), let alone that shooting has begun.
So what we have are several live-action anime adaptations that are in one way or another, in limbo as it were.
I think we have to face it: we're not going to see any live-action versions of any of our favourite animes anytime in the forseeable future. I mean this in the same sense as we are not going to see a Middle-East peace anytime in the forseeable future.
Anyone disagree with me?