According to an exclusive over at Collider screenwriters Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby are about to turn in a draft for their version of Akira. If you remember, the film had Leonard DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt attached to star and was set to be produced by DiCaprio’s Appian Way. Fergus and Ostby wrote the adaptation of Children Of Men, Iron Man, and they’re also penning the just announced Cowboys And Aliens, set to be directed by Jon Favreau.
I’m not as opposed to this as the hardcore Akira fans, but I’m more extremely curious. I actually still feel that Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tetsuo was the best casting choice ever. However, Akira isn’t really even a main character and the last ten to fifteen minutes are bug-fuck crazy, so who knows what they’ll do with this. Details are obviously scarce, but Collider confirms that it’s still set in post-apocalyptic Manhattan as opposed to Neo-Tokyo (boo!), that the infamous motorcycle is definitely part of the film (yay!), and that if the film does indeed go into production “it’s going to be one of those BIG event movies.” What do you think?
-Brian
Source: http://www.collider.com/2009/09/07/exclusive-akira-movie-update/
I'm also not sure how I feel. I love the original 'Akira', especially the original English dub (with the guy who did Leonardo's voice on TMNT doing Kaneda's) and would be curious to see how a live action version would turn out especially with today's special effects. But at the same time I don't want it to be ruined like other things (*cough* Transformers)
Dennis
I will download from torrent.