It sounds as if Warner Bros has put the live action remake of Akira back on hold. Again.
NewsWarmer Bros has, for many years, been planning a live action take on Akira, but not with a great deal of success. The closest it got to happening seemed to be in 2012, but then the studio pulled the plug on the project as the budget escalated. At that point, TRON: Legacy's Garrett Hedlund had been earmarked to star, whilst Unknownand Run All Night director Jaume Collet-Serra was set to helm the movie.
However, Collet-Serra rejoined Akira - that Warner Bros picked the rights up to way back in 2008 - and it seemed that things were moving again. Back in August 2013, it was revealed that budget issues had apparently been sorted, and it looked like progress had been made. But, 18 months on, it seems Akirais back in limbo.
Collet-Serra has updated Collider on the project, and basically said there's no update. "There's nothing," he admitted, when asked if there's been any progress at all on Akira. Furthermore, having now shot the films Non-Stop and Run All Night - both starring Liam Neeson - pretty much back to back, he's not planning to jump straight into another projected. "I truly will not make a decision on a movie for a few months because I've done there two movies in three years without any time off ... my next movie's not gonna be for a while, let's put it this way."
And when pressed as to whether Akirais likely to happen? "It's a Warner Bros question," Collet-Serra said, pretty much batting the question back. For better or worse, the Akiralive action remake doesn't sound too likely right now...
