AKIRA has had many suitors over the months and years the project has been in the works, ranging from Leonardo DiCaprio to Ryan Gosling to Brad Pitt, but all of them passed it by as the film floundered to find support.
Now a new shadow has darkened the movie’s door. Keanu Reeves is reportedly considering starring in the project, presumably as Kaneda. I’m not quite sure how they’re planning to rework the story, but I thought Kaneda was supposed to be pretty young in the original, and Reeves? The man might not look it, but he’s 47.
The news of Reeves circling the film also comes with word that the price tag for the project is getting a bit insane. The budget is now up to $230 million, and Warner Bros. has so far been unable to find a financing partner.
It’s another one of those projects, like the recently shaky Dark Tower, that seems like it could be well-made with enough cash and support, but the stories themselves are so out there, I can’t see either picking up any sort of mainstream appeal enough to justify their massive cost.
Do you want to see this movie made? What of Keanu?