Sounds Like Justin Lin May Direct That Live-Action AKIRA Remake
Every once in a while, Warner Bros. decides to lash out at the populace by threatening us with a live-action Akira remake. They'll say so-and-so's attached or such-and-such screenwriter's taking a stab at the screenplay, everyone freaks out, and then nothing ever comes of it. This has been going on for years.
Today, we are again compelled to raise the "Akira Live-Action Remake" threat level to orange:
On the latest episode of Meet the Movie Press ... host Jeff Sneider revealed that Justin Lin is said to be WB’s current top choice to direct Akira, and that the studio is actively courting the filmmaker to sign on for the project.
Last May, the word on the street was that Daredevil's Marco J. Ramirez was working on the latest Akira script, but since then we've heard nothing (if you're curious what was going on with Akira before that, check out our Akira index page, which has updates on this perpetually-stalled project dating back...well, pretty much to the beginning of the site).
The speculation now is that Warner Bros. greenlit Lin's Space Jam 2 in an effort to smooth-talk him into directing their Akira remake ("Why make one unnecessary movie...when you could make two?"), but who knows if that's the case.
Until we hear otherwise, we're going to consider the live-action Akira remake a resident of development hell (it lives next door to The Crow remake). Stay tuned to find out if it ever breaks free.
(Note: Header illustration by Tyler Stout, for Mondo)
