Akira - Live Action

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/akira-movie-release-date-set-sets-may-2021-1213499

Has a MAY 2021 Release date now.

I'm definitely looking forward to what they can pull off with this one.

Unless Otomo himself directed using the comics as storyboards with a complete unknown cast, and did 6 movies that are 3 hours each, with a budget of $500 million per film, this is going to be the biggest disaster in "live action anime" in history.

If it ever really happens I'll torrent it out of morbid curiosity, just to see the trainwreck with my own eyes, but this is gonna make that "Dragonball" movie look like Citizen Kane.

There's already a perfect AKIRA movie but these greedy bastards think they're gonna get richer off this. They won't. Not one penny from me. ever. Maybe Khev knows what I mean.

(For the record, Otomo has moved on way past AKIRA years ago and thinks it's complete. Other than Hollywood types tossing money at him he wants nothing to do with this.)

My final prediction, if it truly gets made, is it's gonna look like a Sy Fy channel original and flop hard and immediately be forgotten.

What a **** show.

I guess they could use the 1988 film as a template for a two hour story but as awesome as Alita was I really have no faith that Hollywood will do this properly. I'd lean toward them just not trying as well.

Ughhhhh, no.....jus no.....

Seeing it for Taika's take. I loved Ragnarok.

Waititi's been saying the right things about this one. Cautiously optimistic.

Do not want

Big shoes to fill here. I have faith in Taika but definitely not in Warner Bros.

Akira is overrated.

The Clown Prince of Crime said:

Akira is overrated.

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I agree. Loved the Animation and art from the Anime but that's about it.

The Clown Prince of Crime said:

Akira is overrated.

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Wow, jus wow.....

Seriously ...I would be happy with a frame-by-frame remake of the classic anime but in 3D animation. Much like the Astro Boy movie ...with improvements here and there.

AC_808 said:

Seriously ...I would be happy with a frame-by-frame remake of the classic anime but in 3D animation. Much like the Astro Boy movie ...with improvements here and there.

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They won’t. In place will be Americans named Ken and Ted. It’s gonna blow.

Unclechopchop said:

They won’t. In place will be Americans named Ken and Ted. It’s gonna blow.

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Unfortunately

No reason for this, from a creative standpoint. The story wasn't so innovative or interesting that it warrants a live action recreation. The anime was important and popular in large measure due to the style, sophistication, and mood of the film, which was incredibly innovative and is why I don't agree that it is overrated. It also seems like a bad idea from the perspective of trying to make a profit. But I'm sure the execs at movie studios know better than I do.

karamazov80 said:

No reason for this, from a creative standpoint. The story wasn't so innovative or interesting that it warrants a live action recreation. The anime was important and popular in large measure due to the style, sophistication, and mood of the film, which was incredibly innovative and is why I don't agree that it is overrated. It also seems like a bad idea from the perspective of trying to make a profit. But I'm sure the execs at movie studios know better than I do.

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My user name is "Otomofan" and even I'll be the first to agree with you. The story is not the draw...it was the utterly mindblowing visuals achieved with what was at the time, just a Herculean undertaking of hand drawn cel animation. It was a spectacle that no one in the west had ever seen before. (Of course I think it still holds up and every frame is gorgeous.)

But we've been inundated for the last 25 years with CGI cartoons and live action and live action with so much CGI they may as well be cartoons. A live action AKIRA would be just the same. It's pointless and redundant. Just watch the original on a huge screen in high def and marvel at all the insanely intricate fluidity of the animation. I've seen it hundreds of times and I always spot new stuff.

If this actually gets made, and apparently it's closer now than it's ever been, I just hope it dies a swift death like the Dragonball and GOTS movies and is forgotten so it does as little damage as possible to the legacy of the original anime and manga.

karamazov80 said:

No reason for this, from a creative standpoint. The story wasn't so innovative or interesting that it warrants a live action recreation. .

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Otomofan said:

My user name is "Otomofan" and even I'll be the first to agree with you. The story is not the draw...it was the utterly mindblowing visuals achieved with what was at the time, just a Herculean undertaking of hand drawn cel animation. It was a spectacle that no one in the west had ever seen before. (Of course I think it still holds up and every frame is gorgeous.)

But we've been inundated for the last 25 years with CGI cartoons and live action and live action with so much CGI they may as well be cartoons. A live action AKIRA would be just the same. It's pointless and redundant. Just watch the original on a huge screen in high def and marvel at all the insanely intricate fluidity of the animation. I've seen it hundreds of times and I always spot new stuff.

If this actually gets made, and apparently it's closer now than it's ever been, I just hope it dies a swift death like the Dragonball and GOTS movies and is forgotten so it does as little damage as possible to the legacy of the original anime and manga.

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That's why I think it's overrated and pointless as a live action movie. Aside from the great opening sequence, the story kind of slows down too much until the final act. It's going to be another Blade Runner 2049. If they put more action in it, I could see it being more entertaining. As a live action film, it can offer nothing that we haven't seen already in live action, so it better be entertaining at least.

Kaneda's bike looked awesome in RPO, I don't see any further need to revisit it again in live-action.

That said I don't think that the upcoming AKIRA movie can taint the legacy of the original. GitS didn't ruin anything. It came and went with little fanfare and is already forgotten.

Hell even a good anime adaptation like Alita couldn't find a wide audience so if AKIRA is bad it'll disappear that much sooner.

Kaneda's bike looks a zillion times better in this promo than it did in RPO. They clearly based it on the Bandai toy though.



Even thought it looks "good" for CGI, it still doesn't look "great" or even remotely real. ALL CGI looks like fake, weightless, shiny rubber. Besides the first thing Hollywood is gonna do is redesign the bike. They never, ever leave anything the way it is in the comics with the exception of Sin City, and that's only cause Frank Miller was on set.

(Seriously though...a stripper that never shows the goods? Gimme a damn break Jessiba Alba.)

Anyway, back on topic, I remember seeing designs by "Hollywood professionals" for the bike and they all sucked. These people don't even think to ask actual comic book artists, or even just USE THE ACTUAL SOURCE MATERIAL.






That one's not terrible, but the shape and sponsor stickers are still all wrong.



Now THAT is just wrong on every level.

No wonder everyone thinks I'm a miserable old crank. Hollywood butchering everything I've ever loved did this to me.