No Progress Made On Live-Action Akira

A live-action Akira adaptation remains a long way off… as director Jaume Collet-Serra reveals there’s been no progress.

During an interview with Collider, the 40-year-old director revealed that there’s been absolutely no progress on the Akira live-action movie.

“No, no,” he said. “There’s nothing.”

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Of course, Akira is often considered to be one of the turning points in anime… and after its release in 1988, became a cult classic. Teenage biker Tetsuo Shima is gifted with psychic powers, and wants to free the imprisoned psychic, Akira. And the dystopian setting along with a suitably cyberpunk story made this a Japanese sci-fi mainstay.

But while an adaptation has been in the works for a long time, it looks as though it’s still struggling to get off the ground… and Jaume Collet-Serra doesn’t seem to be in much of a rush.

“I truly will not make a decision on a movie for a few months,” he said, “because I’ve done these two movies in three years without any time off so I cannot wait for this movie to come out and just fade away. So my next movie’s not gonna be for a while, let’s put it this way.”

Clearly, that’s a hefty blow for Akira fans… but with the off-again, on-again project faltering once more, it begs the question – is the live-action ‘Akira’ officially finished?

I can’t help wondering if the plagued production has seen the end of its shelf-life… after all, with several directors attached, only to end up walking away, it looks as though Warner Bros. is struggling to get to grips with this Japanese classic.

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But could the live-action Akira be dead in the water?

“It’s a Warner Bros. question,” he said.

Of course, it sounds as though Collet-Serra has simply lost enthusiasm for the project. But should the project be shelved indefinitely? I can’t help wondering how well the adaptation will work. And if it’s not as good as the original, it may just not be worth doing.

But for now, we’ll have to wait and see.

Do you think Akira should be adapted? Will the live-action version ever get made? Let us know what you think in the comments below…