Akira

Unused Storyboards for Live-Action Akira Adaptation Revealed

When Warner Bros. finally gave the green light to Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way-developed Akira adaptation last October, it was thought that the years the movie had spent in development were finally about to pay off and we would be seeing Katsuhiro Otomo's acclaimed manga ("comic book" in Japanese) series in live action on the big screen in the very near future. The project got so far as casting, with Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy) landing the lead role of Shotaro Kaneda and offers going out to Kristen Stewart (The Twilight Saga), Ken Watanabe and Helena Bonham Carter for key roles, before Warners shut it down over budget, script and casting concerns in early January.

The project may be dead or, like the child with god-like powers for which the movie is named, it may only be in stasis, but we can at least get a glimpse of what the movie might have looked like thanks to the discovery of some storyboard art created for the movie by Sylvain Despretz (Gladiator). According to the boards, the artwork was created prior to Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown) taking the helm, when Oscar-nominated short film director Ruairi Robinson (Fifty Percent Grey, Blinky™) was attached to direct.

Director Josh Trank on the Possibility of a Sequel to Chronicle

With the release of his first movie, the "found footage" superhero (supervillain?) movie Chronicle, still more than a week away, up-and-coming director Josh Trank (The Kill Point TV series) is receiving the kind of buzz typically reserved for veteran filmmakers. In fact, rumor has it that executives at Fox are so impressed by Trank's work on Chronicle that the studio is considering giving him the opportunity to make a movie about real superheroes that has a real budget and a built-in cast of recognizable characters as the director of the Fantastic Four reboot. In a recent interview with DenOfGeek!, Trank described the attention he has been receiving for the movie as "a little weird" and discussed the possibility of a sequel to Chronicle.

Warner Bros. Shuts Down Akira Adaptation Over Budget Concerns; Is the Project Dead?

While there are variations on whether the project is dead or alive, one thing is for sure, the Americanized-adaptation of Akira is in trouble. THR reports that Warner Bros. has shut down production offices in Vancouver. "Everybody is being sent home," an insider told the site. What went wrong? Seemingly everything, as script, budget and casting issues continue to plague the long-gestating project.

Based on the highly acclaimed six-volume manga ("comic book" in Japanese) series created by Katsuhiro Otomo, Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way production company has been developing Akira for three years. After receiving a script polish from Harry Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves, Warners greenlit Akira, but apparently the script is still problematic.

Helena Bonham Carter Not Sure About Akira; Calls Dark Shadows "Impossible to Sell"

Now that Warner Bros. has finally greenlit the live-action adaptation of Akira, based on Katsuhiro Otomo's classic manga ("comic book") series, casting has been the primary focus. Garrett Hedlund is set to play the lead role of Kaneda, but the rest of the cast is uncertain.

At the end of October, Helena Bonham Carter was offered the role of Lady Miyako, a character that becomes an important ally of Kaneda's and has even bigger hair than Bonham Carter's Red Queen in Alice in Wonderland. However, Bonham Carter told MTV that she hasn't accepted the role yet. "I have read the script and I haven't really decided yet," Bonham Carter revealed at the Britannia Awards. "I don't know yet what I'm going to do next."

Ken Watanabe May Replace Gary Oldman as The Colonel in Akira; New Contenders Up for Tetsuo

Warner Bros. casting for their upcoming live-action adaptation of Akira, based on the Japanese manga ("comic book") series by Katsuhiro Otomo has been pretty, well, Caucasian so far. Garrett Hedlund is set to play heroic biker gang leader Shotaro Kaneda, while Kristen Stewart (The Twilight Saga) has been offered the role of Kei, a powerful medium and Kaneda's love interest, and Gary Oldman and Helena Bonham Carter were offered the roles of The Colonel and Lady Miyako, respectively. Like we said, pretty Caucasian.

Of course, the live-action Akira will take place in New Manhattan, unlike the Neo-Tokyo of the manga series and 1988 anime adaptation, but that hasn't stopped a furor of online criticism. George Takei (Star Trek) has led an online petition against the "whitewashing" of Akira and recently told The Advocate that if the studio continues with its casting, they could "offend Asians, number 1; number 2, they offend the fans". Whatever the motivation, it seems like Warners is finally looking to bring an Asian actor onto the cast, with Ken Watanabe possibly stepping in for Oldman.

Kristen Stewart Offered Role in Akira

According to Twitch, the latest casting offer in the upcoming Akira adaptation is out to actress Kristen Stewart (The Twilight Saga), with Warners reportedly wanting the actress for the part of Kei, a powerful medium who eventually becomes the love interest for Kaneda.

While the Twitch report says it's only an offer, Deadline reports Stewart is in advanced talks for the role. This would put the actress in line for her third potential franchise, after Twilight and, possibly, Snow White and the Huntsman, which is reportedly planned as a trilogy and could move forward with the sequels should the movie find success next June.

Casting has been moving fairly rapidly, now that Warner Bros. has officially given the greenlight to the adaptation of Akira for an early 2012 start.

Earlier this month, Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy) was cast in the lead protagonist role of Kaneda, and the studio is looking for the right actor to play the antagonist of the movie, Tetsuo, with Ezra Miller (We Need to Talk About Kevin) and Alden Ehrenreich (Tetro) reportedly in contention for the role. Gary Oldman and Helena Bonham Carter were also offered roles in the movie, but are yet to be confirmed.

Casting News: Up-and-Comers Preparing to Duke it Out for Roles in Akira & Die Hard 5

The careers of at least two hot young Hollywood actors could be headed in an upward trajectory very soon. According to THR, casting sessions for Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way-produced Akira adaptation for Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox's fifth Die Hard movie, A Good Day to Die Hard, will be held within the next couple of weeks and both projects are looking to turn relative unknowns into future stars.

Casting News: Garrett Hedlund in Akira; Andy Serkis in Rise of the Planet of the Apes Sequel; Emma Stone in New Comedy

Late last month, Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy) was reported to be the "front-runner" for the lead role in the live-action adaptation of Akira, and now he's officially landed the role.

THR reports that Hedlund is in negotiations to star as Kaneda, the heroic leader of the Capsule biker gang in the post-apocalyptic city of New Manhattan (replacing Neo-Tokyo in the classic Japanese manga series by Katsuhiro Otomo). Eventually, Kaneda has to fight his fellow gang member Tetsuo who takes over the rival Clowns biker gang once his telekinetic powers awaken.

While Hedlund is the only cast member who has accepted an offer, other cast members could follow. Gary Oldman and Helena Bonham Carter were offered the roles of The Colonel and Lady Miyako, respectively, at the end of last month, and, reportedly, Keira Knightley has also been approached for a role.

Casting News: Bradley Cooper Could Be the New Man from U.N.C.L.E.; Gary Oldman and Helena Bonham Carter Offered Roles in Akira

Whether or not Steven Soderbergh (Traffic) will retire after his Liberace biopic for HBO as he has implied — Soderbergh admitted at the 2011 San Diego Comic-Con that he is "winding down" — the Academy Award-winning director still has more than enough movies in the pipeline to satisfy his fans for years to come. In addition to his global pandemic movie, Contagion, which is currently in theaters, Soderbergh has already completed work on Haywire, a spy thriller starring mixed martial arts fighter Gina Carano, and he is currently filming Magic Mike, a "sexy, funny and shocking" movie inspired by headliner Channing Tatum's days as a male stripper.

Squeezed between Magic Mike and Liberace — we're pretty sure there's a joke in there somewhere — Soderbergh plans to direct The Man from U.N.C.L.E., a remake of the '60s TV series of the same name about a secret international spy and law-enforcement agency called U.N.C.L.E. (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement). Soderbergh's Ocean's Eleven star, George Clooney, was on tap to play the top agent, Napoleon Solo, but ultimately rejected the part over fears that the stunt work required of the role would aggravate some injuries the silver fox sustained while filming Syriana. After both Matt Damon and Johnny Depp turned down the role, Variety has reported that Soderbergh offered the part of Solo to Bradley Cooper, who is likely to accept. Soderbergh had intended on going into production on U.N.C.L.E. in February, but the addition of Cooper would push the start date back until late-March/early-April because of Cooper's commitment to Paradise Lost.

Akira Adaptation Greenlit for Early 2012 Start Date; Tron Legacy's Garrett Hedlund a "Front-Runner" to Star

After three years of push-and-pull, Warner Bros. (WB) has finally given the green light to Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way-produced live-action adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo's acclaimed 6-volume manga ("comic book") series, Akira.

DiCaprio began developing Akira in 2008 after WB secured the rights from Japanese manga publisher Kodansha in a 7-figure deal, but the project stalled out almost immediately when Appian Way pitched the movie as a two-part, $300 million epic. It remained in limbo for a couple years while a string of writers took a crack at the script, and finally generated some momentum when Steve Kloves of Harry Potter fame was hired to polish the script and Albert Hughes (The Book of Eli) signed on to direct. When Hughes dropped out over "creative differences" WB wasted no time in hiring his replacement, Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown), a sign that the the studio was serious about getting Akira into production. According to Variety, WB continued to haggle with Apian Way over the budget right up until last weekend, when the deal was finally sealed. With a planned "late February/early March start" in mind, it's now a matter of locking down a bankable cast.