5 Urgent Questions About the Live-Action Akira Remake

Anyway, this really isn't anything to worry about. I doubt the film will even ever get made.

they've been trying to get this one off the ground forever.
Check this AICN report about the WB live action version of AKIRA from 2007:
http://www.aintitcool.com/node/34600
They had a director attatched to it as early as 2003. Every now and then, rumors surface. That's about it.
 
David Jimerson said:
Merely having the same title doesn't make it actually the thing.
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Hell, if they redid it as an anime set in Japan it still wouldn't be 'the thing'. It would still be an interpretation. But since they have the rights to the story and the name, for all technical purposes it is Akira plain and simple.

Going back to Wolverine for simplicity's sake, the character and story we get in that film is somewhat removed from what we get in comics. The version we get in comics is itself inconsistent. But even with all the changes, there's a running theme to the character and all the versions we get are accepted in the same spirit.

I don't know what we're going to get, but it's weird to me that we should start panning this before it's even out on the track yet.
 
vcassel said:
Have you read the screenplay? I think it may be a bit early to label it as "bad writing" just because the location and ages have changed. To me, because I write regularly, I don't see a location change as being drastic as a story structure level change. But even then, a drastic change like that may work to its benefit. I trust Appian to recognize that.
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what I said in a previous reply

"But then again this all hinges on this being a bad movie all signs point to bad so far for me but who knows, I have been pleasantly surprised before. I hope I'm wrong and it's amazing as you can most likely tell I am a huge fan of the movie and story itself and would love a well put together live action based around it, it's just very risky and unlikely."

I'm just addressing the pitfalls of this type of movie hence the "bad writing" was addressing adaptions that do that never said that is what is being done just don't like the method, and In my opinion most adaptations of this kind have failed but that is just me.
 
I am not familiar with the source material but why take something and make it entirely nothing like the source and then still rape the name ? Why not just call it something else ?
 
I just realized another thing that I love about the original that I am 1% sure they could match: The music. The score in the original was fan-freaking-tastic. Don't believe me? Please take a listen to this:

 
English Madman said:
No one in Hollywood could pull it off. No one has the balls, vision or integrity to keep it legit and true.
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I think both the Wachowskis and Zach Snyder could pull something off that LOOKS like Akira.

If the Wachowskis produced the film and Alex Proyas directed it, they might put together something that actually FEELS like it too. But Akira is so damn unique you could never reach the depth from a major studio. The money it would take to do that would mean they'd need to dumb it down to get a mainstream audience and that means losing what's special about it.
 
'Internal Affairs' was a brilliant Hong Kong movie (as most of you know anyway) that dealt with a story that was very specific to the local culture, and revolved around very specific customs and very specific gangs like the Triads.

'The Departed' was a good interpretation of that story, and effectively translocated the story and adapted the culture and customs accordingly.

Just saying, relocating this story from Japan to America - it can be done (whether it will be done properly remains too be seen, but its not impossible).
 
Yojimbo - Fistful of Dollars

Actually there have been many great adaptations that have effectively crossed culture, geography, and time.
 
Those movies aren't the same. Akira is based upon a fear of nuclear destruction, something Japan has more experience of than any other country.
It's a group of small islands, only 20% of the surface is possible to use for agriculture (if I remember correctly from high school) and it's had two cities ruined by nuclear bombs.
You can't put that into perspective in America.

Okay, imagine this: 9/11 was two major buildings and look at the emotional impact that had on the country. Now imagine if first the entire city of New York had been wiped out by a nuclear bomb. Then, Chicago.

Then imagine living with that for a few decades.

THEN we can talk about remaking Akira in the US.
 
Jawa Ex Machina said:
I think both the Wachowskis and Zach Snyder could pull something off that LOOKS like Akira.

If the Wachowskis produced the film and Alex Proyas directed it, they might put together something that actually FEELS like it too. But Akira is so damn unique you could never reach the depth from a major studio. The money it would take to do that would mean they'd need to dumb it down to get a mainstream audience and that means losing what's special about it.
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Alex Proyas? Cool, I never even thought of him. Loved Dark City and THe Crow. I, Robot wasnt too bad either.
 
Anyway, it doesn't really matter. The director is off the project, so is Keanu Reeves. They've fired the pre-vis team as well.
If it's happening, it's not going to be this way.
 
Jawa Ex Machina said:
Those movies aren't the same. Akira is based upon a fear of nuclear destruction, something Japan has more experience of than any other country.
It's a group of small islands, only 20% of the surface is possible to use for agriculture (if I remember correctly from high school) and it's had two cities ruined by nuclear bombs.
You can't put that into perspective in America.

Okay, imagine this: 9/11 was two major buildings and look at the emotional impact that had on the country. Now imagine if first the entire city of New York had been wiped out by a nuclear bomb. Then, Chicago.

Then imagine living with that for a few decades.

THEN we can talk about remaking Akira in the US.
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With respect, I think you have underestimated the universalism of the 'fear of destruction', nuclear or otherwise.

If you had to be Japanese to understand this then why did the original Akira resonate so well with audiences across the globe? If your theory was right then surely you would have to be Japanese to have the perspective when watching it; which is clearly not the case.

Many sci-fi movies (the best of them at least) have events or threats which can be said to be representative of something below the surface, or metaphorical, or allegorical of different aspects of the human condition.

That why good sci-fi transcends culture better than other genres; say romantic comedies for instance, IMHO.

You don't need to be Japanese to have a fear of nuclear bombs. Just ask any of the duck-and-cover generation in the US...
 
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