# Live Action remake of Akira? Why?



## Bloody_Inferno (Mar 31, 2011)

Akira (2013) - IMDb

&#8216;Akira&#8217; Movie Eyeing Shortlist of Actors for Leading Roles - Screen Rant

&#8216;Akira&#8217; To Be PG-13; No Sequel for The Hughes Brothers - Screen Rant



I actually only found out about this from this Cracked article and already it's got the blood fuming. 

Why indeed.


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## Origin (Mar 31, 2011)

Looks heartbreakingly fucking asinine and pointless. Hooray!

Also, bless Cracked. Bless them


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## Marko (Mar 31, 2011)

Is it not weird to have a movie titled "AKIRA" with american actors playing in it  ? Shouldn't they rename it to "JOHNNY" or something?


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## Dan_Vacant (Mar 31, 2011)

^ lmao.
I don't thing it comes out well when manga and anime is turned into live action i think it should stay as anime casue it's one of the best anime moves ever and I doubt it would be to good kinda like the dragon ball movie it was neat but not to good.


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## ST3MOCON (Mar 31, 2011)

I heard about this a year ago or something and I was a little hopeful and realistic . With a pg13 rating my small hopes have been crushed lol.


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## synrgy (Mar 31, 2011)

They're ruining it.

1. Moving it from 'Neo-Tokyo' to 'Neo-Manhattan'..
2. White-assed white boys playing guys named Kaneda and Tetsuo
3. OOPS! We'll fix that by renaming Tetsuo to _Travis_.
4. Making Kaneda and Travis _brothers_ for no reason that operates within the boundaries of logic.

And the worst part is, I love the original SO MUCH that I'll probably still go to see this presuming it ever actually gets released.


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## Randy (Mar 31, 2011)

KANEDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA


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## Guitarman700 (Mar 31, 2011)

No thanks. Hollywood and all their remakes can get bent.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Mar 31, 2011)

Kinda makes me feel that I'm glad they scrapped the Neon Genesis Evangelion live action remake. 

There's supposed to be a Castlevania movie in the works too, but no word on that. I heard that Michiru Yamane is supposed to be scoring the film, which is AWESOME if it's true. 

As for Akira, well it's gonna be as good as Dragon Ball Evolution =


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## Guitarman700 (Mar 31, 2011)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> Kinda makes me feel that I'm glad they scrapped the Neon Genesis Evangelion live action remake.


That would have been almost as bad as the rumored Full metal panic live action with Zac efron.


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## Dark Aegis (Mar 31, 2011)

Guitarman700 said:


> That would have been almost as bad as the rumored Full metal panic live action with Zac efron.



I heard about that and just shook my head. Anyway a pg-13 akira just seems wrong.


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## Guitarman700 (Mar 31, 2011)

This thread has inspired me to dig out my copy of this and watch it. 
Yup, still as good as I remember.


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## Explorer (Mar 31, 2011)

More than a lot of ventures with artistic sides, television and movies are often motivated by the wish to make money. "I was looking for a project with legs, and someone told me that I could get an option on some cyber movie that had been kind of cutting edge. I knew that it had a lot of feel like that Ladd Co. film 'Blade Runner,' which was blockbuster on video and DVD. With foreign and domestic, I could probably get a pretty good return. Hmm... these people are too asian... still, I can work with this. Who can we get who'll be like Keanu, but cheaper?"

*laugh*


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## Aurochs34 (Mar 31, 2011)

dude wtf this is terrible news


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## Explorer (Mar 31, 2011)

Okay, I have to confess... I really wanted to like "Akira," but didn't. I thought some of the visuals were great, but it seemed a bit muddled. 

With this proposed project, I picture it going like this...

"So, I watched the cartoon, and it was kind of a mess. Still, I made some notes and found a neat through-line which could be good: kid gets powers, but runs amok. We'll need a love interest, of course, 'cause that cartoon was pretty much a sausage fest that only appealed to nerds. Who's that chick on that TV show? Can we get her? What's the deal with those blue kids? Can we make them like elves or something? 'Cause that chick in 'Avatar' was kind of hot for a cartoon. If the nerds went for the sausage fest before, I know they'll go for tits. It'll be like the only other place they get to see them, on the internet, but this will have action, too!"

*laugh*


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## Hollowway (Apr 1, 2011)

It's a shame that with all the writers and filmmakers in Hollywood they don't come out with original material. It reminds me of the old SNL David Spade bit:
"Hey Hollywood, you know why Akira was made in Japan over two decades ago? So you don't have to! It's called originality - look into it."


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## signalgrey (Apr 1, 2011)

they have been "making" this movie for some time now. I highly doubt itll ever happen. plus the comics were amazingly better


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## Kavnar (Apr 1, 2011)

Might actually kill myself.


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## Daemoniac (Apr 4, 2011)

Maybe it will turn out to be some kind of sick joke...


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## Randy (Apr 4, 2011)

TETSUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO


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## Kavnar (Apr 4, 2011)

Daemoniac said:


> Maybe it will turn out to be some kind of sick joke...



I genuinely hope so.


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## Explorer (Apr 4, 2011)

Hollowway said:


> It's a shame that with all the writers and filmmakers in Hollywood they don't come out with original material.



Last year, I enjoyed the following highly original films:

Avatar
Youth in Revolt
Defendor
Inception
Black Swan
The Illusionist
Kick-Ass
Splice
Hot Tub Time Machine

There were other films which were decent, but this is just the list of new ones I saw which didn't seem like retreads.

(Okay, honestly, there's one on that list I didn't see, but just tossed on for laughs. That's right, it's Black Swan.)


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## Bloody_Inferno (Apr 4, 2011)

I thought Avatar was just Fern Gully and Pocahontaus mashed together?

But that's a bit off topic....


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## CFB (Apr 5, 2011)

I just saw this movie for the first time a few days ago and can say with confidence that this is a terrible idea


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## Hollowway (Apr 5, 2011)

Explorer said:


> Last year, I enjoyed the following highly original films:
> 
> Avatar
> Youth in Revolt
> ...



Oh, I didn't mean that Hollywood doesn't come out with original movies. I just meant that with all of the talent you'd think that they would never need to remake films. Certainly not like in the case of Akira, where it's a highly risky prospect given the reverence that many people hold the original in.

(And I heard Kick Ass was an awesome movie. Haven't seen it yet, though.)


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## Explorer (Apr 5, 2011)

@Hollowway: Granted, there are always new ideas.

Look at it this way, though: If someone came up to you with two strategies to double your money, one of which was tried and true, the other of which was fairly iffy, which would you invest in?

Iron Man 2, for example, wasn't the most original film, but I did see it. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first film, but I'm sure a lot more people saw it than took a chance on Black Swan.

And, of course, there were original takes/remakes on proven ideas that were decent. "Let Me In" turned out to be surprisingly good, as well as "True Grit." They were reimaginings which turned out right.

Anyway, back to tits!

I mean, Akira!


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## Bloody_Inferno (Apr 7, 2011)

Cracked write again on the subject:

The Actual Live-Action Akira Script: Worse Than You Think | Cracked.com

Dunno what to say after reading that.


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## Guitarman700 (Apr 7, 2011)

Bloody_Inferno said:


> Cracked write again on the subject:
> 
> The Actual Live-Action Akira Script: Worse Than You Think | Cracked.com
> 
> Dunno what to say after reading that.








This is going to be terrible.


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## Overtone (Apr 7, 2011)

When I was a kid (like 7 or 8) my local TV station aired Akira w/ the saturday morning cartoons because obviously cartoon = for kids. It was AWESOME!

But this sounds like a pile of shit. With remake fever still going strong I wonder if they'll do Metropolis. On the one hand, it hasn't really been done (besides the anime based on a manga loosely based on Metropolis), on the other hand it's too sacred, and also, practically every sci-fi since IS Metropolis, just cleverly disguised.


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## Explorer (Apr 7, 2011)

Overtone said:


> (P)ractically every sci-fi since IS Metropolis, just cleverly disguised.



Children of Men
The Jacket
Inception
Alien
Back to the Future
Donnie Darko
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Abre los ojos (Open Your Eyes)
2001
The Thing (John Carpenter)

I just grabbed a handful of scifi/fantasy DVDs from my rack without looking, and came up with a random group which I'm not sure fit the idea of "Metropolis." 

(There were others I felt wouldn't fall under scifi at all, like "Iron Man" and "Hancock." "Donnie Darko" is that same superhero type of film, but I left it on the list anyway....)


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## Guitarman700 (Apr 7, 2011)

Dear Hollywood
Please keep your grubby shitpaws off my Animes.
Thanks
Guitarman700


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## Meatbucket (Apr 7, 2011)

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD
DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTT


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## ghostred7 (Apr 8, 2011)

I shiver at the thought of this. There's no way in hell they're going to do this movie justice. The original paved the road for future anime IMO and is just purely epic in its own right. 

Excuse me while I go vomit now.


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## Djent (Apr 10, 2011)

Mind me if I go off on this:

Akira is my favorite film of all time. However, it was when I read the manga that the film was based off of that I saw what a work of art that it was. 

Some facts: the manga originally ran from 1982 to 1990, and the film was released in 1988. At the time that the film was made, Katsuhiro Otomo (the creator) was unsure about how to end the series (it was only after a conversation with Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo, anyone??) that he decided to complete the series). In addition, to keep the film down to two hours, he cut out a lot of big details. In my opinion, had the film completely reflected the original manga, even with the uncertain ending, it could have been the greatest animated film of all time.

I say this, because there's actually two "phases" to the manga. The first "phase" is what the film was like, an edgy, modern thriller, that ends with the destruction of Neo-Tokyo. However, the second "phase" is more of a post-apocalyptic thriller, which ends with Neo-Tokyo's destruction, again. Many characters are introduced (for example, Lieutenant Yamada, an American soldier sent to kill Akira, is a mainstay in the second half of the manga), while others have much bigger parts (Akira himself gets a lot more focus, and Lady Miyako, who only appeared as a protester in the film, has a huge role in the manga). Many unexpected things happen (Takashi, one of the three psychic kids, gets shot at the end of the first half of the manga, which leads to Akira setting off a psychic explosion that destroys Neo-Tokyo), and even the Americans get involved in this (in the second half, an aircraft carrier stations near Neo-Tokyo. Long story short, after fighter jets try to carpet bomb the city, Tetsuo rams the Americans' laser satellite right into the ship).

If you're not familiar with the news going on, this new movie adaptation is supposed to be adapted from the manga, with volumes 1-3 (the first "phase" that I mentioned) being one movie, and volumes 4-6 (the second "phase") being another. This already seems promising. However, it's the suttle things that tick me off. The whole PG-13 concept seems absolutely wrong (the original was rated R, mainly for the violence). In addition, the setting doesn't really tick me off, nor does the white actors part. However, it's the choice of adult actors that pisses me off more than ever. It destroys an entire theme that was presented in the series.

Overall, this remake seems like an awesome concept, but at the same time a weird concept. Just my two cents.

P.S. If you want to acquaint yourselves with the manga series:
Akira (manga) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Sicarius (Apr 11, 2011)

hey man, so long as the "TO THE REVOLUTION" smoke grenade scene is still in it, I'll be content.


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## Thrashmanzac (Apr 11, 2011)

Randy said:


> TRAVISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS



fixed


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## caparison_x (Apr 12, 2011)

After reading the reviews in the links my immediate thought is

If you need convincing then you're not convinced.

I mean half of the review was basically coercing me to open my mind to the possibility this wont suck. Which means as of now it quite possibly does suck.

The film will never come close to how cool the anime "was" and watching it again (a few years ago) the anime was pretty close to being boring, yes it was great for its time, yes it was a cool anime, no it should not be made into a film. 

ESPECIALLY with the "talent" named in the reviews.


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## Overtone (Apr 12, 2011)

Explorer said:


> Children of Men
> The Jacket
> Inception
> Alien
> ...



You know that was an exaggeration, right? Although the first one, Children of Men does have some parallels... upperworld vs. underworld (art collector guy vs. immigrant camps), a protagonist who kind of travels between both worlds and bring in a new age by connecting with certain people from both worlds, Julianne Moore is kind of similar to Maria in the role she plays in the movie ("Mother" of the counter-movement). The rest on that list don't have any solid connections I can think of (for the ones I've seen). 

There's more blatant similarities in films like Blade Runner, THX 1138, The Island, Equilibrium. Plus the basic framework of the story (a guy who's not really doing much but yearns to discover something or do something new somehow finds out about the secret world and that there is something big keeping society going but at a high moral price, eventually sympathizes with the downtrodden, and uses his/her special privileges to do something about it, causing the whole big thing to collapse) is very prevalent in sci-fi movies, so that's why I said that.


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## Overtone (Apr 12, 2011)

Ok, just for fun, here is a table comparing several movies to show how similar they are. Major spoiler alert!
Click the link to see the table

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c316/asaad01/metropolis.jpg

The funny thing is I feel like there are a bunch more films I'm not remembering! There's also several movies that almost fit the mold but not quite due to only one or two things not fitting right (Moon, Children of Men, Minority Report - actually I just don't remember this well enough, The Matrix, Gattacca, District 9).


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## Marko (Apr 13, 2011)

onetimeoneplace said:


> Mind me if I go off on this:
> 
> Akira is my favorite film of all time. However, it was when I read the manga that the film was based off of that I saw what a work of art that it was.



Unfortunately, as i read the manga before watching the movie - i only appreciated it for its soundtrack (gamelan stuff is awesome!), technical accomplishments AND the fact that it wasnt just a mere adaptation but a whole new work. In my opinion - that is the way to do these things, so that the one experience (watching the movie or reading the comic books) does not spoil the other.

By the way, thank you for such an informative post, i had no clue that Jodorowsky had a small part in finishing the anime  Jodo is a favorite of mine, i hope i get him to sign some stuff for me on friday, when he comes to Belgrade to attend Janjetov's (artist of Technopriests and many other Jodoverse titles) exhibition.


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