Saturday, June 13, 2009
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Akira’ Project is Dead as a Doornail
Originally posted on Saturday, June 13, 2009 by MrDisgusting @ http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/16472
It has been a year and a half since we broke the news exclusively here on B-D - and about a year since THR confirmed (without credit of course) - that Ruairi Robinson would be making his directorial debut on the live-action adaptation of Akira, a massive two-part apocalypse story that was being produced by Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way and Warner Bros. Pictures. Sad news comes in this weekend as we have learned that not only has Robinson left the project, but Tetsuo and Kaneda’s adventure is “dead as a doornail,” a report we’ve confirmed with two separate sources. I can only hope it gets revived in the near future as this could have been one of the coolest effin’ movies ever.
“Akira” originated in 1988 as a manga and then as an animated film co-written and directed by Katsuhiro Otomo. The story was set in a neon-lit futuristic post-nuclear war “New Tokyo” in 2019 where a teen biker gang member is subjected to a government experiment which unleashes his latent powers. The gang’s leader must find a way to stop the ensuing swathe of destruction.
With its mature themes and cutting-edge animation, “Akira” was a milestone movie in anime and even animation circles, and led the way for anime making inroads into Western pop culture in the 1990s.
The new story was to move the action to “New Manhattan,” a city rebuilt by Japanese money and was to hit theaters THIS summer.
“Akira” would have marked the feature directorial debut for Robinson who was nominated for a best animated short Oscar in 2001 for a sci-fi comedy called “Fifty Percent Grey.” He also wrote and directed a sci-fi short titled “The Silent City” (watch it at BDTV), Robinson is repped by CAA and 3 Arts Entertainment.
Friday, May 1, 2009
We Have Adverts
As you might have noticed, akira2019.com has adverts. Sorry to do it but there’s really no other way to keep this site alive otherwise.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Akira Shop Now Up
Shit it’s almost been a year since an update, well I’ve been busy with my music. Just added is the Akira affiliate store. A convenient place to search and buy Akira releated products. There are also links scattered all around the site linking to products relevent to the page you’re on. Click and buy something and support this site or it go bye bye… so buy buy. Akira Store.
Monday, November 10, 2008
DiCaprio is Producing Akira, Ninja Scroll, Not Acting in Them
Originally posted on 2008-11-10 15:07 EST @ http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-11-10/dicaprio-is-producing-akira-ninja-scroll-not-acting
Self-professed “big fan of anime” says final Akira script draft is being written
Movie star and producer Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic, The Assassination of Richard Nixon, The Aviator) told MTV’s Splash Page that his Appian Way production company is waiting for the final script draft for the live-action film version of Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira manga. He added, “I’m a big fan of Japanese anime — that and another project called Ninja Scroll we’re trying to get developed and made into a movie, and I know there a lot of loyal fans out there of the project and die-hard fans, so we’re going to try to do the best job we possibly can and we’re not going to make the movie until the script is in the right shape.” He also emphasized that he is producing in these two projects, and that he does “not really” have any interest in acting in them.
The Variety entertainment news source reported in February that Warner Brothers and Appian Way had re-licensed the rights to remake Akira from the manga publisher Kodansha. The two companies originally planned to make two films, each of which would cover three volumes of the renowned science-fiction manga about a governmental genetic project and a teenager’s attempt to save a fellow biker gang member. Otomo himself directed a popular 1988 anime film based on his own manga. Variety also reported last month that Warner Brothers and Appian Way had licensed the rights to adapt Yoshiaki Kawajiri’s Ninja Scroll action anime film from the Madhouse anime studio.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
The American Akira Parody Cartoon
Brilliant parody of the upcoming Akira live action film.
Created by Harry Partridge (Happy Harry Toons)
http://www.youtube.com/user/HarryPartridge
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