Live-Action 'Akira' Back On The Ropes

 

Warner Bros. have shut down the production offices for the upcoming Hollywood live-action remake of Katsuhiro Otomo's 'Akira'. Reports suggest that there are casting, script and budget issues plaguing the project, all of which have worried the studio enough for them to press the pause button.

Producers, including Appian Way’s Jennifer Kiloran Davisson and Mad Chance’s Andrew Lazar, will hunker down with director Jaume Collet-Serra ('Unknown') for the next two weeks to iron out the script. It is not yet clear whether 'Harry Potter' scribe Steve Kloves, who did a pricey rewrite on the project a year ago, will be brought back in to help.

Collet-Serra already halved the budget from the previous incarnation that Albert Hughes was set to direct. He is now working on a budget in the $90 million range. But with only Garrett Hedlund ('Tron: Legacy') signed on to star, and Kristen Stewart, Ken Watanabe and Helena Bonham Carter in various stages of dealmaking, the studio feels that the price tag is still far too high.

'Akira' will be an Americanised retelling of the of the classic Japanese manga. Relocated to a postapocalyptic New Manhattan, the story revolves around a motorcycle gang leader (Hedlund) who must stop his brother and fellow gang member from abusing his newly acquired telekinetic powers.

 

 

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Posted January 07, 2012