Pattinson, Garfield, McAvoy, Hedlund, Fassbender, Pine, Phoenix, Timberlake?????

[Pookie]

Sad.

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/04/21/george-takei-akira-whitewashing-asian/

 

[Jawa Ex Machina]

the tradition in hollywood has always been to buy a project, change it completely and flop with it.

 

[vcassel]

He largely undermines his own point when he notes that there are no bankable Japanese-American actors working in Hollywood. I suppose that's why he had no qualms supporting John Cho, a Korean-American actor, in the role of Sulu for 2009's Star Trek. I wonder if no one would have a problem with this film's casting if it kinda sorta fulfilled the American expectation of what an Asian looked like.

The same thing happened with M. Night Shyamalan. He cast his project [The Last Airbender] with non-Asians and it's an Asian story, and the film flopped. I should think that they would learn from that, but I guess big studios go by rote, and the tradition in Hollywood has always been to buy a project, change it completely and flop with it. I think it's pointless, so I thought I would save Warner Bros. a bit of failure by warning them of what will most likely happen if they continue in that vein.

No need to confuse the issue. The Last Airbender sucked regardless of race.

 

[Jawa Ex Machina]

He largely undermines his own point when he notes that there are no bankable Japanese-American actors working in Hollywood. I suppose that's why he had no qualms supporting John Cho, a Korean-American actor, in the role of Sulu for 2009's Star Trek. I wonder if no one would have a problem with this film's casting if it kinda sorta fulfilled the American expectation of what an Asian looked like.

Well yeah you have John Cho, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu and Jason Scott Lee, but when was either of those the star of their own film in America? It's been nearly 20 years since DRAGON
Ever heard the expression "That movie sounds like a John Cho vehicle"?
Compared to african american actors like Denzel Washington, Will Smith, Halle Berry, Forrest Whittaker, Morgan Freeman, Danny Glover, these are bankable actors that could, would and does star in their own films.

That's all he does, compares how many asian american A-listers there are to african american.

 

[vcassel]

Well yeah you have John Cho, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu and Jason Scott Lee, but when was either of those the star of their own film in America? It's been nearly 20 years since DRAGON
Ever heard the expression "That movie sounds like a John Cho vehicle"?
Compared to african american actors like Denzel Washington, Will Smith, Halle Berry, Forrest Whittaker, Morgan Freeman, Danny Glover, these are bankable actors that could, would and does star in their own films.

Jackie Chan sure; John Cho maybe; Lucy Liu isn't bankable as a star, at least not these days; Jason Scott Lee does mostly direct-to-video films. But even if that point did float, OK, so set the film in China?

That's all he does, compares how many asian american A-listers there are to african american.

I think the fact that we can't casually bring up any bankable Japanese-American stars in reference to an Akira film is deafeningly implicit here. Casting it with actors from neighboring countries won't make it any more of a Japanese film than casting it with Latino American, Caucasian American, or African American actors will. But if it's being made by an American company in the English language, it was never going to be a Japanese film anyway, regardless of casting.

Just like how the Japanese version of Sideways is decidedly not American.