A New Game is launched Live-Action Akira movie finally dies after Warner Bros. give up rights to beloved anime is launched.
Live-Action Akira movie finally dies after Warner Bros. give up rights to beloved anime new features
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It was too difficult for Tetsuo and the studio, apparently.
Live-Action Akira movie finally dies after Warner Bros. give up rights to beloved anime new features
Trying to bring what is widely regarded as one of the greatest animes ever made into the real world is no easy task, so much so that after more than 20 years, Warner Bros. has finally given up on their hopes for an Akira movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The history of the studio’s struggle to get the project off the ground now feels as epic as the source material. Based on the 1982 manga series by Katsuhiro Otomo, Akira was adapted into the now-iconic anime in 1988 and follows Shōtarō Kaneda as he attempts to rescue his best friend and fellow biker gang member, Tetsuo Shima, who has been captured by the government and experimented on to awaken his psychic abilities. The transformation eventually leads to a battle that tears the futuristic world of Neo Tokyo apart.
Warner Bros. acquired the rights to adapt the story in 2002. Since then, a handful of directors and writers have either been approached or taken on the project only to abandon what feels like a borderline unfilmable endeavor. Blade director Stephen Norrington was the first to accept the gig, immediately making changes by depicting Kaneda and Tetsuo as brothers. Unfortunately, he didn’t get very far and left the project, likely due to the fallout from the box-office failure he helmed before it – The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.