Taika Waititi Wanted for Live-Action Akira Adaptation
Warner Bros. is dusting off its Akira movie and setting its sights on Taika Waititi to direct. According to Deadline, the studio is in negotiations with the Thor: Ragnarok helmer to bring Katsuhiro Otomo‘s seminal manga to the big screen in a two-part live-action adaptation produced by Andrew Lazar of Mad Chance and Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson of Appian Way.
Akira takes place in dystopian metropolis Neo-Tokyo in 2019 and follows the lives of two friends and members of a bike gang, Tetsuo Shima and Shōtarō Kaneda. After an accidental encounter with a government experiment into harnessing psychic potential, Tetsuo grows mad with power and Kaneda rises up to stop him.
The planned adaptation would take the action from Neo-Tokyo to “a rebuilt New Manhattan,” but otherwise follow the plot of 6-volume manga and the 1988 adult animated movie adaptation.
