Warner Bros. has had a live-action remake of AKIRA in development for many years but despite their best efforts, the project has never managed to get off the ground. Now THR is reporting that Warner Bros. is looking to take another crack at AKIRA with the hiring of Marco J. Ramirez, the writer who will be replacing Steven S. DeKnight as the showrunner of Daredevil, to pen the new script.
There have been many attempts at giving AKIRA the live-action spin but the most recent had Jaume Collet-Serra (NON-STOP) at the helm. That version got far enough along that actors had been cast and others were in serious talks, including Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Helena Bonham Carter, Dane DeHaan, Michael Pitt, and Ken Watanabe. Production offices had been set up in Vancouver but before production could get any further, Warner Bros. hit the brakes citing script and budget problems. This wasn't even the first time that AKIRA had been shut down and it would be several more years before we heard any more news on the film; earlier in the year Jaume Collet-Serra was asked whether there had been any progress on the film and the director responded with "No, no. There’s nothing.” With that, AKIRA seemed dead once again…until now.
With the negative backlash that any news the live-action remake seems to bring and Warner Bros. less than stellar luck when it comes to actually getting AKIRA off the ground, I'm surprised that they're willing to give it another shot. Will the billionth time be the charm? Who knows. Marco J. Ramirez has written for Sons of Anarchy, Da Vinci's Demons, Orange is the New Black, and Daredevil itself before being bumped up to showrunner of Daredevil's second season, a position he will share with fellow Daredevil writer Doug Petrie.
Are any of you actually looking forward to a live-action AKIRA? Is it possible to do it right?