The live-action adaptation of "Akira" is finally having production progress with the crew reportedly negotiating with the director of the latest Marvel superhero film, "Thor: Ragnarok."
Taika Waititi, a New Zealand-born director and actor, is currently in negotiations with Warner Bros. to direct a live-action film of the anime artist Katsuhiro Otomo's six-volume graphic novel "Akira," according to Deadline.
Forbes argued, however, that the world doesn't need a live-action movie version of "Akira." As the manga version of the anime is lengthy and complex, it may not be suitable for the average two-hour time frame of blockbuster releases.
Furthermore, Otomo had a difficult time as the director of the anime adaptation of "Akira." This means that the live-action edition could be even more of a challenge for another director.
The animated action film, which was released in 1988, was set in a post-apocalyptic dystopian society centered on Tokyo, Japan with themes of cyberpunk. The protagonist, Tetsuo Shima, had psychic powers and was part of a biker gang headed by Shotaro Kaneda.
Although the animated version adapted most of the design and settings of the manga — which reached more than 2,000 pages — it was not able to follow the last half. The plot was considerably distorted.
According to Forbes, the author of "Akira" said he was "basically done" with the manga.
"When it comes to 'Akira' I have already finished the original manga and my own anime version too," Otomo said.
The writer further said that he was fine if other groups would like to produce an adaptation of his work, but he pointed out one thing — that he and other groups must be in agreement about the production.
"As I accepted the offer for a live-action 'Akira' to be made, so I am generally okay with whatever they want to do with it," he said. "However, I did give one major condition to a live-action version and that is that I had to check and approve the scenario."
