Dear. god. no.
First things first. Akira is very important to me. Akira marked the first time I got it, I finally understood the depth and range of story in an animated film. Until Akira it was all about how many guns were there, how cool were the mech, and how much violence was there on the screen. Akira was the video rental pick of the week on Siskel & Ebert in 1989 and I was mesmerized by the depiction of violence I was watching in their preview. I went out and found it right after. I watched it. Twice [back in the day you only had rentals overnight]. And on the second viewing I got it. Like a starburst in my synapses I understood the core philosophy of the story and I didn't know what the word 'philosophy' meant. So I've always held it in very high regard. It was the first time I understood that there was something greater than cool mech design, guns and violence. So it marked a key turning point in my young life in animated film and film as a whole back then.
Which is why Mr, Franco with this rumor about your potential involvement with this film I have found myself in a difficult position. I like you. You have certainly found a place in my heart these past couple of years and I am glad to see that your hard work has been paying off and you're being offered great roles in great films. I admire that you've also still managed to approach everything with a sense of humor and keep things light. Those 30 Rock episodes with you and the Dakimukura remain some of my favorites.
Wow. Yeah. That? That stuff up here? Fail.
Mr. Franco. You are now, more than ever, free to take your pick of the litter. You have worked hard, your talented and your choices of roles is your reward. For now this bit of news is only a rumor. It's not your fault I don't like the idea of a live-action Akira film. Perhaps, since a new writer was hired in the Summer and the film has been fast tracked you've seen their ideas for the film from an insider perspective that we could only dream of being able to see right now and you like it enough to consider the project. Or, perhaps, someone is just dropping your name randomly, a buzz name for sure lately, to drum up interest in the project again.
I humbly take a step back, away from the cogs and gears of Hollywood propaganda, tuck in all loose clothing, and will wait and see what develops down the road.
Even if he's the main character, they must be renaming him, since Franco can't be playing a character called Shōtarō Kaneda...unless they're planning on making him Japanese...
Kaneda has a brother?
what ever...anything about the movie to be announced is just a sign that it would fail.
Forget porn-The internet is for nerds to get upset about casting choices. Other than that I'm not sure what the point of this soliloquy is....so he's a cool guy..but he's punching a cat in the face because he wants to be part of a cool movie..and that's a problem because he's white..or not animated..or..something....?
I think there is some sort of mathematical equation at work here concerning the severity of our fanbased insanity, and it looks something like this:
(Andrew Mack) / (Akira) = (Ard Vijn) / (Ghost in the Shell)
And now I feel brotherly love!
I want to compliment the people who responded to this ridiculous article with such calm and measured notes. Seems like the author was trying to put some feelers out there to the nerd base to get a good chorus of "don't rape my childhood Mr. So-and-so" going on. And instead got adults.
Hollyweird remaking arguably the greatest anime ever? Just when you think it can't get any worse!
The reason why we film curmudgeon's are so quick to condemn remakes is no mystery. It's not about ruining the source material, or anything like that. It has to do with Hollywood jerk off's trying to cash in someone else's success. They want to take masterpieces, water it down, make it safer, repackage it, and sell it back to us, sometimes resulting in a product that is more financially successful than the original, which is only artistically successful. 90% of remakes are just quick cash schemes. They're duping us.
They're welcome to try. They're likely to fail.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jafd97yJFOI
What i find strange here, is that no one has mentioned just how important the LOCATION was to the story, both as a plot device and as a theme.
Post WWII sentiments, political upheaval in a burgeoning economy, Shintoism vs Modernism and Japanese traditions (or traditionalists) at battle with their rebellious youth in a future born from a culture affected by a nuclear holocaust... The original animated film didn't go as deep as the books, but the themes hung HEAVILY in the atmosphere. Everything about the Animated Film just oozed a Japan that (as its tagline perfectly said) was ready to explode... and not just physically. Having re-watched it last week, i've found even more to love about the film as an adult.
I'm sorry, but to base it in America is to doom it to failure. The only work around i can think of is having it take place in Japan with an international cast, and possibly in the 80s, 90s, or an alternate timeline where technology advanced faster than religion and tradition could tolerate.
Crises and kerfuffles. LOL
Remakes are at least an opportunity to assert bragging rights.
Not much interested in this (AKIRA being probably my fourth favorite movie of all time), and actually I see a really bad side.
Live action american AKIRA means only more money for Outomo, means he will get even lazier.
No good sir.
I suspect it will be "Akira" in name only.
The film is likely going to be an Americanization of the anime with "Akira" being some sort of code word instead of an actual character name.
It's hard to say even if the original premise with survive the adaptation.
Either way, the studios have a very low success rate translating anime into live action film. They too often hire hacks to write uninspiring scripts which are then promptly put on the screen with copious amounts of SPFX to fool the masses into thinking they are watching a great piece of cinema...