Will 'Fury Road' Director George Miller Take On 'Akira' Live Action After Leaving 'Mad Max'?
Warner Bros.' "Akira" movie has been stuck in development limbo for over a decade. Yet, hope for the live-action adaptation refuses to die.
Warner acquired the rights to the franchise in 2002. Since then, several directors have been attached to the elusive project, although no script ever reached any real stage of development.
According to Forbes, Warner has enlisted that talents of "Sons of Anarchy" writer and "Daredevil" season 2 co-showrunner Marco Ramirez to write the script that will bring Otomo Katsuhiro's Magnum Opus to life. Leonardo DiCaprio's production company Appian Way will also be on board with Warner to bring "Akira" to the big screen.
Now that the project is making progress, many are wondering - who will be the Hollywood director to lead the upcoming film?
"Run All Night" and "Orphan" helmer Jaume Collet Serra was the last known director to be attached to the project. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Serra signed Garett Hedlund and reached negotiations with Kristen Stewart, Helena Bonham Carter and Ken Watanabe to appear in the film. The project was officially shut down in 2012.
Last year, it was reported that Warner had offered the director's seat to "Mad Max: Fury Road" George Miller. Unfortunately, Miller, a self-professed fan of the anime, passed on the offer.
"There was talk of it [the live action 'Akira']," Miller, 70, told Yahoo! Movies. "But I've got so many things on my dance card, I don't have the time to do everything."
Miller also recently announced that he would stop making the "Mad Max" films.
"I've shot in Australia in a field of wildflowers and flat red earth when it rained heavily forever. We had to wait 18 months and every return to the US was 27 hours," Miller said in a statement published by The Guardian. "Those Mad Maxes take forever. I won't do those any more."
This led to speculations that Miller could possibly take on the "Akira" live-action movie.
"Akira" is set in futuristic Neo-Tokyo and follows the story of two biker gang members who find themselves on opposing sides when one abuses his newly discovered telekinetic abilities.
Stay tuned for more on Warner Bros.' "Akira" live-action movie as updates become available.
