Akira - Being made into a live action film...

[Neil]

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Leo-DiCaprio-Making-Akira-Live-Action-7899.html

Wasn't it Leo DiCaprio's and Drad Pitts production companies who fought over World War Z with Brad Pitt's winning? Maybe this is DiCaprio's fall back project :)

[capncnut]

Oh no, this is depressing! Stuff like this doesn't need to be made into a film.

Leonardo DiCraprio? :dead:

[Terran]

*shivers*....I have trouble seeing how this is going to be pulled off

[Neil]

*shivers*....I have trouble seeing how this is going to be pulled off

Think how well it worked with "The Flintstones" :)

[blind2d]

If this really happens, I will go Emo.

[bassman]

Never even heard of it. But seeing that it's anime, I now know why. Can't stand the stuff...

[EvilNed]

Usually, whenever I see Anime I think that it has a cool story that would translate well (and make a better film) if it were only live-action. Perfect Blue, Ghost in the Shell. All overrated movies that could have been much better, had they been live-action. But Akira is not one of those films. That said, why do you guys care so much? Nobody is going to force you to watch it. And if you do, you still have the original to fall back on. Believe it or not, the original film will not change a bit with this release.

[acealive1]

If this really happens, I will go Emo.
*hands you lipstick and my chemical romance cds*

[Terran]

But Akira is not one of those films. That said, why do you guys care so much? Nobody is going to force you to watch it. And if you do, you still have the original to fall back on. Believe it or not, the original film will not change a bit with this release.

Well the probelm is when talking to other people....

Say to someone in a casual conversation "Rollerball is an awsome movie"

And then they say "Eeew that movie was retarded"

And then you have to say "No not the one with Chris Klein, LL Cool J, and Rebecca Romijn-Stamos...that was a remake it was horrible"

And then they say "Well I cant imagine anything like that being good I dont ever want to see it"....

(Basically insert any name of a movie that has been remade in place of "RollerBall")



Popular culture seems to have a tendancy to forget about the originals when the remakes on top of remakes cloud things....Its also hard to persuade someone to see an original of something that has a horrible remake....

[acealive1]

dicaprio already soiled hollywood with his subpar performance as howard hughes. howard hughes was 6'4'' and leo is 5'7''...........yet jim carrey does a better hughes and didnt get the job in the aviator. scorcese can go eat a bullet

[EvilNed]

Popular culture seems to have a tendancy to forget about the originals when the remakes on top of remakes cloud things....Its also hard to persuade someone to see an original of something that has a horrible remake....

I've never had this problem, and I'm thinking of Rollerball specifically. In fact I dare say the exact opposite is true: Many people I know have now seen the original Dawn of the Dead, but they would never have done so had there not been a remake of it. So I disagree with you, and if you don't have the time to explain to them which of the Rollerballs you mean, then so be it. Then you should be equally against films with similar titles!

[Terran]

I guess it depends on the circles of people you move around ....

None of my friends knew or cared that there was an original Dawn of the Dead....nor did they know of or care that The Ring was a remake of Ringu....Hell even I thought for a while that Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 film)was the original....
Most of the people I know get the majority of their "movie knowledge" through previews and personal memories....And since most of my "friends" were born in the 80s (most of them mid 80s) and therefore they really only have a working vocabulary of movies made in the 90s (and family friendly classics that are shown on regular TV)....

But if you are in a crowd of people that were born in the 70s or later that are casual movie goers they are likely to have a longer working memory of movies....so they may remember most of the movies that are now getting remade..... But I think that most (not all) of the preteens and current teenagers will likely not know or even care to know whether a movie is a "remake"...and if the remake is horrible they will especially have no interest in seeing what they consider an old movie that spawned a bad contemporary movie...


The exception to these observations is movie "lovers" or movie buffs...or movie aficiandos...whatever....They actively search out movies so are more likely to have a movie knowledge that is more comprehensive....


I do mind when movies have the same title.....for example Cronenberg's Crash and Paul Haggis' Crash.....two very very different movies...that still to this day cause confusion amongst movie conversations

[Danny]

I guess it depends on the circles of people you move around ....

None of my friends knew or cared that there was an original Dawn of the Dead....nor did they know of or care that The Ring was a remake of Ringu....Hell even I thought for a while that Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978 film)was the original....
Most of the people I know get the majority of their "movie knowledge" through previews and personal memories....And since most of my "friends" were born in the 80s (most of them mid 80s) and therefore they really only have a working vocabulary of movies made in the 90s (and family friendly classics that are shown on regular TV)....

But if you are in a crowd of people that were born in the 70s or later that are casual movie goers they are likely to have a longer working memory of movies....so they may remember most of the movies that are now getting remade..... But I think that most (not all) of the preteens and current teenagers will likely not know or even care to know whether a movie is a "remake"...and if the remake is horrible they will especially have no interest in seeing what they consider an old movie that spawned a bad contemporary movie...


The exception to these observations is movie "lovers" or movie buffs...or movie aficiandos...whatever....They actively search out movies so are more likely to have a movie knowledge that is more comprehensive....


I do mind when movies have the same title.....for example Cronenberg's Crash and Paul Haggis' Crash.....two very very different movies...that still to this day cause confusion amongst movie conversations

well i fall into that category, being a film student an' all. and i forget that sometimes and then get shocked and or pissed when the rest of my freinds my age dont get what im on about when i talk about the silence of the lambs for example.
today we had a marathon of all the kevin smith films (except jersey girl) and aside form the wolverine reference in mallrats i had to pause it and explain why jay was dancing with a "double back" mangina going on, or why (oh god) my freinds 12 year old cousin didnt get why it was a suprrise that darth vader was white....

i died more than a little inside today, especially when everyone of them said dawn '04 was better than the "old crappy" one....

[Terran]

i died more than a little inside today, especially when everyone of them said dawn '04 was better than the "old crappy" one....

...*Gasp*...
I feel your pain
:annoyed: Some even here think 04 is better than the original too....:rolleyes:

I saw Dawn 04 in theaters and enjoyed myself...but it really is a bad movie.....the original Dawn Ive seen many times, likely more times in the future...

[MikePizzoff]

Never even heard of it. But seeing that it's anime, I now know why. Can't stand the stuff...

Nah, see this one. It's not like most anime. It's more just like an awesome 80's sci-fi... just animated in Japan. At times it reminds me of an animated Blade Runner. It's a really good movie.

[Terran]

Nah, see this one. It's not like most anime. It's more just like an awesome 80's sci-fi... just animated in Japan. At times it reminds me of an animated Blade Runner. It's a really good movie.

It would depend on what he considers "anime"....

I wouldnt call it an animated Blade Runner....theres definitely an existential component similiar to Bladerunner...but theres also an "antiexistential" component that is very different from bladerunner....also much of thematic elements are very different...


That being said....I love Akira.....is it a typical Anime?....definitely not....is it still beautifully animated given todays computer standards....still better.... (and its hand drawn)....

If he hates "animated" movies he'll never like it..."Anime" is a huge genre...hell I dont even consider it a genre...its a media...Grave of The Fireflies is thrown in with anime but is extraordinarily different than the anime pulp shown on Adult swim....Akira is also different...


Theres so many movies that are classified as "Anime" but drastically differ from each other...

[SRP76]

I see no point in making this movie. It can only be just like the animated flick - GREATLY abbreviated.

You cannot pack a 2,000 - page manga into an hour and a half live-action pile of dogturd. Period.

The only way it could be done effectively is if it were a miniseries. You'd need the time allotment.

And should I even bother to ask just WTF someone like DiCaprio would be doing living in NeoTokyo?! Funny, but he just doesn't look Japanese to me....maybe I need glasses or something, but I'm just not seeing it.

EDIT-

Ah, I see now that he won't actually be IN the movie, thank God. Sorry, saw his name and went into a rage...it could happen to anybody....

[DeadJonas190]

I've never had this problem, and I'm thinking of Rollerball specifically. In fact I dare say the exact opposite is true: Many people I know have now seen the original Dawn of the Dead, but they would never have done so had there not been a remake of it. So I disagree with you, and if you don't have the time to explain to them which of the Rollerballs you mean, then so be it. Then you should be equally against films with similar titles!

I run into that problem all the time at work (A Blockbuster) with people of all ages. Sure there are a lot of people who went from the remake to watching the original, but I can say from personal experiance that most people don't know when a movie is a remake and a lot of the kids like the crappy remakes better because they dont know any better (or at least that's my theory).

As far as a live action Akira... they shouldn't do it. Akira is a Anime classic that should not be touched. Plus I am really sick of all the remakes lately.

[EvilNed]

The exception to these observations is movie "lovers" or movie buffs...or movie aficiandos...whatever....They actively search out movies so are more likely to have a movie knowledge that is more comprehensive....


I'm not talking about average movie lovers, I'm talking about people who like films on an everyday, relaxed level. People who would rather enjoy Tom Cruises latest film than any of Kubricks films. Many of these were born in the 80's, also, by the way.

So I do not see how a remake could hurt the reputation of the older film. So far most of my friends are aware that Dawn of the Dead, for instance, was a remake. And those that weren't were not at all disinterested in seeing the old one, despite not liking the new ones. Hey, I even managed to folks to watch the old Rollerball, AFTER seeing the new one.

If people happen to like the remakes more, then so what? You have a different taste in movies. I do not "die a little" inside whenever people tell me they don't like John Carpenters films. I just tell them my point of view of why I think they're brilliant and let that be.

Thus, remakes only further the reputation of the older film. And for those who do not care for remakes, they do not have to watch them. It's a win-win situation.

[Neil]

....3yrs later.... And it's getting closer!

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/48959

[Danny]

anyone seen some of the cast rumours?

Sure robert pattinson can get some boos for starring in twilight but the guy was decent in the goblet of fire, and more age appropriate for the role hes touted for.

But his rumoured competition for the role is joaquin pheonix.....

[Kaos]

I have yet to hear of anyone attached to this flick who wasn't tragically too old to play the leads. Phoenix? Shyeah, as long as he plays one of the elderly looking psychic kids. :elol:

[blind2d]

Why? Why do they need to do this? I don't understand...

[Neil]

Keanu?

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/49544
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Could-Keanu-Reeves-Wind-Up-Playing-Kaneda-In-Akira-24580.html

[Yojimbo]

I like anime, but hate the dubbing that is typically featured in the english language versions. Terran mentioned "Grave of the Fireflies" which is a decent film, but for the life of me I cannot stand to watch this with the dubbing. They always use some woman for the voice of a young boy, for example (think about the Spritel dubbing for the original Speed Racer Series) which gives me an ulcer when I hear it.

Perhaps my brothers here who don't groove with anime might feel differently if they watched it with english subtitles but listened to the original Japanese language track - I don't know if this will change the way anyone views anime, but I certainly like it better than the badly dubbed versions.

I predict the Akira remake, however, will be a big budget flop. Looks like they are not going to feature any asians in the primary roles either, but I suspect that some politcally correct minded producer will feature token minorities in the side roles.

I also agree that Leonardo DiCaprio is a crappy actor - Scorcese needs to stop using him in his films.

[Neil]

I like anime, but hate the dubbing that is typically featured in the english language versions. Terran mentioned "Grave of the Fireflies" which is a decent film, but for the life of me I cannot stand to watch this with the dubbing. They always use some woman for the voice of a young boy, for example (think about the Spritel dubbing for the original Speed Racer Series) which gives me an ulcer when I hear it.

Perhaps my brothers here who don't groove with anime might feel differently if they watched it with english subtitles but listened to the original Japanese language track - I don't know if this will change the way anyone views anime, but I certainly like it better than the badly dubbed versions.

I predict the Akira remake, however, will be a big budget flop. Looks like they are not going to feature any asians in the primary roles either, but I suspect that some politcally correct minded producer will feature token minorities in the side roles.

I also agree that Leonardo DiCaprio is a crappy actor - Scorcese needs to stop using him in his films.
Indeed! I will always watch the subtitled/original dialogue version of any foreign film!

DiCaprio? A crappy actor? Huh? He's played a good number of rolls very well?

[Yojimbo]

Indeed! I will always watch the subtitled/original dialogue version of any foreign film!

DiCaprio? A crappy actor? Huh? He's played a good number of rolls very well?

Glad we agree on subtitled versions as opposed to dubbed.

Regarding Leo, however, since Gilbert Grape I have felt he was subpar. Admittedly there are films of his I have yet to see, and my judgement may be colored some because I know him personally -grew up in the same neighborhood and went to the same High School - so I respect your differing opinion. Could not stand him in Inception, Shutter Island, Gangs of NY, Titanic, Catch Me, and as Howard Hughes, but again I may not be the most impartial judge.

[blind2d]

If they pull a Last Airbender and mainly cast whites... That just wouldn't even make sense! It's in freakin' Tokyo! I mean, maybe a couple of them could be white, but as Tetsuo or Kaneda? No, I can't see it... No...

[Yojimbo]

If they pull a Last Airbender and mainly cast whites... That just wouldn't even make sense! It's in freakin' Tokyo! I mean, maybe a couple of them could be white, but as Tetsuo or Kaneda? No, I can't see it... No...
Yeah, blind, they have renamed neotokyo as neo-manhattan, so they've changed it up like that to justify their primarily caucasian cast (since the executives obviously continue to believe that white actors have a better box office pull than asian actors) but they are keeping the names of the primary characters as Kaneda and Akira. Which is funny if you consider Keannu answering to a Japanese name.

"Whoa, like what's up with Tetsuo, dude?"

[shootemindehead]

This will be a fucking joke.

[blind2d]

"Whoa, like what's up with Tetsuo, dude?"

That made me laugh! Out loud!

Neo-Manhattan?! I... This is so much bollocks... So instead of kind of a modern Blade Runner, with, y'know, Akira going on... It's gonna be New York?! Again?! Isn't it enough that almost half of American movies take place there, anyway?! I mean, shoot, man... It's gonna be an utter facepalm cluster-faulk...

[Yojimbo]

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-urgent-questions-about-live-action-akira-remake/


PG-13 of course!

The more I learn about this, the more antacid I have to take. They are changing "Tetsuo" to "Travis" to match the race change of the leads?

Since they are anglicizing everything about the movie why not also change the name of the film from "Akira" to "Alfalfa" or "Amos"

Douchebags.

[blind2d]

Quick! Somebody make a picture of the famous "Kaneda walking to his cycle" Poster image and have his hair sticking up!
Y'know... Like Alfalfa from Little Rascals...

[AcesandEights]

I remember watching Akira for the first time back in...oh...I guess it would have been '89 or '90 on VHS. Very good stuff, especially for an over-hyped genre. This sounds horrible, though.

This reminds of something that outraged some of the kiddies a few years back:

http://moesucks.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/gokuliveaction.jpg

[Mitchified]

To be fair, there was no way to do a live action Dragonball movie and make it true to the source material. How were they going to fit ten episodes worth of screaming and flashbacks every single time a kamehameha wave was used, not to mention the entire season's worth of episodes that always took place between starting the Spirit Bomb and actually throwing the thing?

At least in Akira they can...um... Okay, so I don't really see a whole lot of positives here, especially since I wasn't a huge fan of the source material to begin with.

[blind2d]

Very good stuff, especially for an over-hyped genre.

What genre, post-Apocalyptic sci-fi action drama? Yeah, that stuff is way over-hyped, son!

*Ahem* Anime is no more a genre than cartoons from America are. I mean, really, any live-action genre you can think of has been done in some form or other in anime; some to death. Anyway... I'm all things to all people.

[Neil]

Is production collapsing? http://www.aintitcool.com/node/49693

[Doc]

To be fair, there was no way to do a live action Dragonball movie and make it true to the source material. How were they going to fit ten episodes worth of screaming and flashbacks every single time a kamehameha wave was used, not to mention the entire season's worth of episodes that always took place between starting the Spirit Bomb and actually throwing the thing?




Heys! Don't lump Dragonball in with Dragonball Z. Yeah, Dragonball Z was all of that(well, the later episodes anyway). But, Dragonball was quality!

[blind2d]

The Doc is right! Young Goku being an ignorant little Mowgli is the best!! Back when the series was accessible to young children, and still fun to watch. And lacked the zed. But yeah, sometimes I just don't like you, Mitchy. I'm sorry, but it's true. (still bitter about losing the high score position in space invaders)

[AcesandEights]

Is production collapsing? http://www.aintitcool.com/node/49693

My fingers are crossed that it collapses. I just don't want to see it go live-action.

[Neil]

Director found - http://www.aintitcool.com/node/50389

[Neil]

Cast being talked about - http://www.aintitcool.com/node/51971


Twitch Film are reporting that Kristen Stewart has been offered the female lead role of Kei in Jaume Collet-Serra's live-action version of Katsuhiro Otomo's manga masterpiece AKIRA. She would potentially play opposite TRON LEGACY's Garrett Hedlund, who's been offered the part of Kaneda. Gary Oldman and Helena Bonham-Carter are also reportedly in talks to appear in the film.

[Neil]

Production stopped - http://www.aintitcool.com/node/52505


Warner Brothers is shutting down production of AKIRA at this time, according to the Hollywood Reporter. With Jaume Collet-Serra at the helm, it looks like he just couldn't make the movie at $90 million. Sources say it's budgetary concerns, with the studio trying to bring it down to $70 million, and at least one source says it's the script, by Steve Kloves, that just isn't ready.