Summary

  • Warner Bros. Has let the film rights for an Akira remake lapse after over 20 years of failed attempts.
  • Multiple directors have attempted to crack the nut of creating a live-action Akira film without success.
  • The possibility of a remake being attempted again in the future remains.

After more than two decades of development hell and millions of dollars spent on pre-production, Warner Bros. Is officially stepping back from remaking the timeless 1988 anime classic Akira. Chances are, someone else will try to bring a live-action remake to life, though.

What is there to say about Akira that hasn't already been said? If Warner Bros. Has spent this long trying to make a new Akira film, its clear how important it is. Based on the serialized 1980s manga of the same name, 1988's Akira was a landmark film upon release and continues to be one of the most beloved sci-fi movies of all time to this very day. There is no overstating just how influential Akira is in terms of bringing Japanese culture stateside, and its overall stylistic impact can still be felt thanks to projects like Cyberpunk 2077. There have been homages to the iconic "Akira slide" in television shows like Batman: The Animated Series and Star Wars: Clone Wars, and films like Nope and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The movie's legendary action sequences have influenced everything from The Matrix to Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. All of this makes it unsurprising that Hollywood would try to bring an Akira live-action remake to life.

intergalactic-the-heretic-prophet-akira-kaneda
Every Akira Reference in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet Explained

The reveal trailer for Naughty Dog's Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is packed with clear allusions to the highly influential anime film Akira.

By 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. Has decided to let its holding of the Akira film rights lapse, meaning any studio can reach out to original rights holder Kodansha, to try and get a remake done. Warner Bros. First picked up the rights to Akira way back in 2002 and has been trying to get a new film made ever since. Not even bringing Leonardo DiCaprio on board as a producer got the film through its seemingly unending cycle of development hell. Now, Warner Bros. Has wiped its hands of the project and is moving on entirely.

Warner Bros. No Longer Has The Film Rights For An Akira Remake After Trying To Get A Film Done For 20+ Years

It's not as if people haven't been trying to get a live-action Akira film made for years now. Even before Warner Bros. Picked up the rights in 2002, Sony Pictures spent years trying to get a movie made in the 1990s to no avail. WB has hired numerous directors over the years, and not one of them could crack this particular nut. Blade's Stephen Norrington was the first, followed by Irish filmmaker Ruairí Robinson. After those two, the Hughes brothers—best known for Menace II Society and The Book of Eli—were next in line. Then it was Black Adam's Jaume Collet-Serra.

Collet-Serra left the project by 2017, and Warner Bros. Had conversations with George Miller, Justin Lin, and Jordan Peele about taking over the film's production. Finally, WB brought Taika Waititi on board and gave the film a 2021 release date. Unfortunately, Waititi decided to shoot Thor: Love and Thunder first, which moved Akira back and caused the project to stall out yet again.

At this point, it seems like an Akira live-action remake is simply cursed, but that won't stop some Hollywood studio from getting the rights again and starting all over from scratch. Perhaps all the remake needs is another two decades in the oven?

Source: The Hollywood Reporter