Forum - View topicNEWS: Live-Action Akira Film Plans Get New Writer
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_V_
 Posts: 619 |
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now I've seen ANN and others scoffing at the idea of a live-action adaptation of Evangelion...but really, live-action anime adaptations in general were moving very slow...
...I mean for God's sake, Barefoot Gen is having trouble getting backing for an HBO miniseries, and its an autobiographical account of a historical event. Cowboy Bebop and other projects have problems, even Battle Angel -- which James Cameron *wants* to make and has stated his support for at recent major cons...has difficulty. Hollywood is just really slow in general, and even slower to take up new things. I mean, "Speed Racer" was underappreciated (it wasn't SUPPOSED to be "the next Matrix", it was just an adaptation of a show meant for small children; what did you expect?") And as for Dragonball: Evolution...that's just human stupidity. Nonetheless its great news that WB is now actually "enthusiastic" about making two Akira movies. The original Akira, in 1988, is usually held to be *the* movie that started the North American anime boom. Lets hope a live-action version could, similarly, open the door to live-action anime adaptations in Hollywood.
Well Book of Eli was pretty good, but I must stress that "From Hell" in no way reflected the themes or basic quality of the acclaimed graphic novel by Alan Moore. |
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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Concerning its potential profitability as a remake, I shall agree. Many mainstream viewers would enjoy the result of these efforts. Matters concerning my approval of this venture —or lack thereof— can be kept separate from such purely financial considerations. |
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gatotsu911
Posts: 457 Location: US of East Coast |
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Welp, there goes most of my interest in the film. I'd been looking forward to the director and writers taking the highbrow route with the source material, but with the director of American Pimp at the helm and the writer taking over for the visionary scribe behind Gears of War, I'm becoming increasingly worried that the films will capitalize exclusively on the "violent motorcycle gangs and psychics" aspect of the plot rather than the complex philosophical undertones that made the original film truly great (aside from the fantastic animation, of course). I guess I shouldn't be entirely surprised, since it's mostly remembered in America for the former rater than the latter, but I have to say, with an Oscar-nominated director initially announced to be leading the project and the manga serving as the basis for the story (suggesting that the interest of the people involved extended beyond "saw it once, yeah it was cool") I really did have my hopes up.
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Peroxid
 Posts: 210 |
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I believe this was obvious from the beginning, since it's an Hollywood movie. Still I'm really glad that they decided to focus more no the manga than on the anime, and that the first movie will hand the first three movies (since the story of the manga is so much more of that of the anime). |
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OnanRulz
 Posts: 132 Location: The MPLS |
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To be fair, the original graphic novel is practically unfilmable. Great, but unfilmable. |
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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You know, while most of the news about this has been mixed, there is a repeated element that always has me thrilled: they'll be making two movies. If they want to make Akira that has any chance of improving on the anime, they need to include the whole series rather than a condensed version, and you'll need at least two movies to do it. That shows me the studios are at least familiar enough with the story that they know what it will entail.
And unlike some, I'm not entirely opposed to an Americanized version. True, elements of the story are rooted in the Japanese experience, particularly the ravages of WW2 and the rise of new religions. But you could find American analogues that keep the spirit intact. Otherwise... well, world's largest casting call for East Asian actors who can speak English, I guess. No studio would make a blockbuster where audiences have to read subtitles 90% of the time. |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14756 |
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New film will likely be set in America but keeping the plot. Like post-apocalyptic America after some terrorist nukes or something. |
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Apollo-kun
 Posts: 1213 Location: City 7, Macross 7 |
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To be honest, I was unsure of this project from the get-go. When you really think about it, "Akira" is one of the many anime and manga that just shouldn't be tampered with, for one sole reason: it was never MEANT to be filmed.
These days, it's pretty common for studios to adapt pretty much ANYthing that looks cool or consumable by the masses, but by doing this, they're beginning to adapt things that were always supposed to be in the medium they were birthed in to begin with. Granted, some of these are indeed translatable to the silver screen; the "Prince of Persia" game and "Speed Racer" anime were both licenses that somewhat emulated real life to begin with, albeit with some extraordinary circumstances. But things like "Akira" are a different story. Otomo's epic was great, to be sure (the manga, at least; the anime put me to sleep all the times I tried to watch it), but it's main appeal was reliant on the fact that it was illustrated/animated. There were things done both in the manga and movie that, quite simply, couldn't be seamlessly emulated in a live-action and/or CGI format without coming across as awkward. I guess my point is that if something's animated, or illustrated, sometimes the best call is just to let it stay that way, especially if it's an anime film or manga series so definitive as "Akira." Anime is animated for a reason, and manga is illustrated for a reason; they were made FOR that medium, and not film. That's my two cents, at least. I know many may disagree, but quite frankly, I'm getting fed up with Hollywood adapting or remaking anything they can get their grubby little hands on. Instead of taking something that wasn't supposed to be a movie in the FIRST PLACE, why not (gasp!) encourage creators to come up with an original idea? As a writer and actor, this irks me to no end. It's going to be a sad day when future film historians can look back at today's films and realize our culture turned into an unoriginal producer of retreads and repeats. |
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The Anagelic One
Posts: 48 |
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Akira 3D anyone?
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enurtsol
Posts: 14756 |
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They said the same about Lord of the Rings, but they filmed it anyways. Wait, the same about Blade of the Immortal and about Belldandy's intricate hair, so maybe you got a point. 
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Ryo Hazuki
Posts: 363 Location: Finland |
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Lord of the Rings was directed by a western film director and like the novels the films were influenced by Medieval Europe. I just can't see Akira working when set in America and I certainly wouldn't want to see allusions to the American war against terrorism. The very idea makes me sick. If Akira was set in the U.S. I really wonder how they would handle with the spoiler[American military intervention in the last volume]. |
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Mr. sickVisionz
 Posts: 2173 |
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I could go either way on Akira. I thought the anime was ok but undecipherable a lot of times. The Hughes Brothers do good work so I might see it based off of that.
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prime_pm
 Posts: 2335 Location: Your Mother's Bedroom |
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This could work. The writer and director are both named Albert...
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antrodemus
Posts: 4 Location: Seattle |
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These days, it's pretty common for studios to adapt pretty much ANYthing that looks cool or consumable by the masses, but by doing this, they're beginning to adapt things that were always supposed to be in the medium they were birthed in to begin with.
I was thinking this same thing, but in terms of the special effects. One of the reasons Hollywood is trying to do these anime adaptations is because CGI allows them to do it on a (somewhat) reasonable budget. The only way to visualize the part with Tetsuo's transformation into a giant ball of flesh is with CGI, but you're really just replacing one form of animation with another. It seems pointless, really. |
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
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If Master and Commander: Far Side of the World is any indication, they'll be French, even if it makes no sense given the historical context. 
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