A live-action retelling of the legendary cyberpunk animated film Akirafrom the guy that brought us Thor: Ragnarok and What We Do in the Shadows sounds brilliant on paper. I won't blame you if you were also hyped for Taika Waititi's take on Kanye West's favorite movie, but now it unfortunately looks even less likely to materialise.
Waititi had been attached to the project in 2017, shortly before the release ofThor: Ragnarok. It was originally scheduled for 2021, but was delayed due to Waititi's work on the upcomingThor: Love and Thunder. The Jojo Rabbit director did say that work on Akira would resume around the "tail end" of the next Thor, but now the project has been removed from Warner Brothers' calendar. Instead, we're getting a 2021 release of The Matrix 4, which is still kinda cyberpunk so isn't too bad as a consolation prize.
Fans of Akira that wanted to see Waititi's spin on it, which he claimed would be closer to the manga than the movie and will make a concsious effort not to whitewash its cast shouldn't be too dismayed. We might have to wait a little longer but at least it hasn't been straight-up cancelled just yet.
What do you think about the idea of a live-action Akira? Is Waititi the right man for the job? Does there really need to be a fourth Matrix? Drop your thoughts below!
I remember hearing about it and years later seeing Harry Partridge make a cartoon about it being set for 2011.
At this rate is going to go on longer then Duke Nukem Forever and probably be just as unimpresive.
I don't know a single good live action adaptation of an anime that isn't total shit.
What's even the point of adapting a movie to another type of movie anyway? You don't gain anything unlike when you adapt a book or a manga.