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Daredevil Showrunner to Pen Warner's Live-Action Akira
posted on by Egan Loo
Marco Ramirez, a writer and producer on the Daredevil and Sons of Anarchy television series, will write a screenplay for Warner Brothers' proposed live-action Akira film project. Ramirez also wrote for the Orange Is the New Black and Da Vinci's Demons television series, and Marvel Studios promoted him and Doug Petrie to showrunners of the upcoming second Daredevil season.
Katsuhiro Ōtomo's original science-fiction action manga Akira is set in Neo-Tokyo, a city rebuilt after being destroyed in a mysterious explosion. Otomo directed his own animated film adaptation that premiered on July 16, 1988 — the same day that the story has the fictional Tokyo being destroyed. In its early proposals, the live-action film project would have moved the story's setting to "'New Manhattan,' a city rebuilt after being destroyed 31 years ago."
When the project was originally announced in 2008, it was intended to be the directorial debut for Ireland's Ruairi Robinson. Actor Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic, The Aviator) has been producing the project through his Appian Way production company. Screenwriters Gary Whitta, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Albert Torres were previously attached to the project.
In October of 2011, Warner officially green-lit the film for director Jaume Collett-Serra (Unknown, Orphan, House of Wax) to begin filming in the following February or March. Warner had held talks with Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Ken Watanabe, and Helena Bonham Carter to star in the film.
However, The Hollywood Reporter then posted that production had shut down in January 2012, before filming would have started. Warner had stalled the project to revise the script so it would be less costly.
Collett-Serra said in February 2014 that he was still working on the project, but he then told the Collider website that there was no progress on the project as of last March.
The Hollywood Reporter lists Andrew Lazar (American Sniper) and Appian Way as the current producers, with Drew Crevello and Nik Mavinkurve overseeing the project for Warner.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
