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NEWS: Live-Action Akira Film Delayed Indefinitely


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Watanabefan



Joined: 02 Oct 2017
Posts: 152
PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 8:42 am Reply with quote
Deadline reported that there might also have been some disagreement about the casting because Waititi wanted Asian actors, but the studio wanted big name stars given the budget, but that right now nobody wanted another GITS controversy.
https://deadline.com/2019/07/taika-waititi-thor-chris-hemsworth-1202647108/

If true, that's stupid. We're in an era now where star power doesn't really sell movies anymore, outside a few very specific actors.
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AiddonValentine



Joined: 07 Aug 2006
Posts: 2201
PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 9:08 am Reply with quote
Watanabefan wrote:
Deadline reported that there might also have been some disagreement about the casting because Waititi wanted Asian actors, but the studio wanted big name stars given the budget, but that right now nobody wanted another GITS controversy.
https://deadline.com/2019/07/taika-waititi-thor-chris-hemsworth-1202647108/

If true, that's stupid. We're in an era now where star power doesn't really sell movies anymore, outside a few very specific actors.


We need see no further than the GitS movie. People kept claiming it wouldn't have made money without Johansson...except the movie bombed so the whole "we need a star!" argument collapsed.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 9:22 am Reply with quote
Wouldn’t be surprised that Warner got scared after seeing the last studio betting on people who worked on Thor 3 getting burned with MIB: Internațional.
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Cardcaptor Takato



Joined: 27 Jan 2018
Posts: 4784
PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 10:22 am Reply with quote
DCR wrote:
I still don't get why this movie had to take place in New Manhattan and not in Neo Tokyo.
They can have movies taking place in other planets, in fictional african countries, in heroic fantasy universes, but a close future Japan is too much for american audiences?
We even have the upcoming live action Mulan which takes place in historical China and will have an all Asian cast.
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Chrono1000





PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 11:13 am Reply with quote
Akira getting an anime TV show while the Hollywood adaptation gets indefinitely delayed is probably the best case scenario. Akira is a gritty violent story that would have been hard to make in modern Hollywood which made a PG-13 remake of Robocop.

Cardcaptor Takato wrote:
We even have the upcoming live action Mulan which takes place in historical China and will have an all Asian cast.

China is a communist country that can reject a Hollywood movie for any reason. Ironically that means that Hollywood dances on egg shells to make sure they don't insult them and that includes making an unrealistic depiction of China. On the other hand Hollywood will usually take the cheaper route with manga from Japan and just Americanize the setting and story.
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nDroae



Joined: 26 May 2017
Posts: 382
PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 11:44 am Reply with quote
Also, is it fair to imagine leaders at Warner Bros. saying something like this? Wink

"Disney can do that because everyone knows Mulan. Nostalgic 90's kids will flock to that movie. Only weebs care about Akira. This movie is risky enough already without filling it with Asians. Look at what happened to Tokyo Drift." (Every other Fast & Furious made twice as much or more in the USA https://www.boxofficemojo.com/franchises/chart/?id=fastandthefurious.htm )

In recent years it's become a trope for Hollywood to use China and Chinese people in films for appeal to China (Transformers 4), but soon after Tokyo Drift came out I saw a PBS documentary in which someone suggested that when audiences in Asia watch western movies, they want to see "exotic white people." I wonder how true that is.

On the flip side, Hollywood's Attack on Titan had better have an all-white cast (with obvious rare exceptions), because that's what the source material demands. Razz
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Crispy45



Joined: 23 Sep 2012
Posts: 363
PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:10 pm Reply with quote
DCR wrote:
I still don't get why this movie had to take place in New Manhattan and not in Neo Tokyo.
They can have movies taking place in other planets, in fictional african countries, in heroic fantasy universes, but a close future Japan is too much for american audiences?


You want the real straight-to-the-point reason? Because Asian-Americans aren't a big enough group or vocal enough to raise much of a stink so studios can get away with it. Live-action anime adaptions are much easier to race swap than anything else because most of the progressive crowd does not care one bit about either anime or Asian representation.

The only reason Johansson got backlash for GITS is because the media hates Johansson and will use anything they can to slam her. No other actor or actress got anywhere near as much beef as she did for playing an anime character. In fact, she got more beef for being cast as a trans character than she ever did for Motoko, so even that outrage was half-baked and only thrown in as supplementary bandwagoning. There were many anime fans and people defending Johansson's casting because 'The Major is a android, she has no race' and 'It takes place in America now, so it makes sense' and 'She's a big name, it'll help'. The exact same reasoning people gave Death Note, Speed Racer, Edge of Tomorrow, Detective Pikachu, Battle Angel Alita, Oldboy, and any other adaption I can't remember. Barely any outrage (if any at all) and in fact you're more likely to see defenders saying it was okay to change the races. and fans should keep quiet and be grateful Hollywood can help spread anime to a wider audience which is only good for the medium.

Currently we have Daniella Pineda and Mustafa Shakir playing Faye Valentine and Jet Black, two Asian characters being portrayed by a Hispanic woman and a black man. Does anyone see any outlets concerned over this casting? Are the actors getting bashed endlessly with hit pieces from news sites for taking roles away from Asian actors? No? Not a single one on Google? Wait, what's that? All of them are actually praising the casting and saying it's a win for diversity? Well there you go. If people want Hollywood to stop recasting Asian roles then complain louder. And maybe try to convince the progressive mouthpieces out there that casting a hispanic woman and a black man as Japanese characters is just as bad as casting white people for it.. but good luck with that.
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Mr. sickVisionz



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
Posts: 2171
PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:28 pm Reply with quote
I thought Taika Waititi was a bad fit. Kinda glad they can go back to the drawing board.
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Cardcaptor Takato



Joined: 27 Jan 2018
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:32 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
You want the real straight-to-the-point reason? Because Asian-Americans aren't a big enough group or vocal enough to raise much of a stink so studios can get away with it. Live-action anime adaptions are much easier to race swap than anything else because most of the progressive crowd does not care one bit about either anime or Asian representation.
Crazy Rich Asians made $238.5 million in the box office and it was a huge success.
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Mr. sickVisionz



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:40 pm Reply with quote
Cardcaptor Takato wrote:
Quote:
You want the real straight-to-the-point reason? Because Asian-Americans aren't a big enough group or vocal enough to raise much of a stink so studios can get away with it. Live-action anime adaptions are much easier to race swap than anything else because most of the progressive crowd does not care one bit about either anime or Asian representation.
Crazy Rich Asians made $238.5 million in the box office and it was a huge success.


Elsewhere in the thread we say $400M is a sign that there is no global audience for a film. Now $238M is a huge success and shows there is an audience...
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nDroae



Joined: 26 May 2017
Posts: 382
PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:43 pm Reply with quote
Again with imaginary strawman producer: "Sure, but that was a romcom. Movies like Alita and Akira cost $200+ million total to produce and market." (And only a portion of the reported cume actually goes to the studio.)

I'm seeing a budget of $30 million listed for Crazy Rich Asians, and if the traditional +50% for marketing applies then the total cost was around $45 million.
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Mr. sickVisionz



Joined: 28 Oct 2007
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:49 pm Reply with quote
nDroae wrote:
Again with imaginary strawman producer: "Sure, but that was a romcom. Movies like Alita and Akira cost $200+ million total to produce and market." (And only a portion of the reported cume actually goes to the studio.)

I'm seeing a budget of $30 million listed for Crazy Rich Asians, and if the traditional +50% for marketing applies then the total cost was around $45 million.


Then say how much they made rather than say there's no audience. People bought tickets for both. $238M in tickets is not more audience interest than $400M in tickets. There's no logic that makes that make sense.

Profitability and audience interest aren't synonyms.
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nDroae



Joined: 26 May 2017
Posts: 382
PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 1:52 pm Reply with quote
Wait, I'm confused. Who's saying there's no audience?

I was backing you up re: Crazy Rich Asians not justifying Asian casting as a business decision in Hollywood tentpole blockbusters, outside safer properties like Mulan and Shang-Chi (being an MCU film).

I don't have an opinion of my own about what has the potential to be profitable, because I don't have enough information to predict that. I'm just voicing what I imagine a Hollywood exec would say, because these decisions are in their hands.
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Chrono1000





PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 2:21 pm Reply with quote
nDroae wrote:
In recent years it's become a trope for Hollywood to use China and Chinese people in films for appeal to China (Transformers 4), but soon after Tokyo Drift came out I saw a PBS documentary in which someone suggested that when audiences in Asia watch western movies, they want to see "exotic white people." I wonder how true that is.

From what I have read that is mostly true for Japan but is mostly false for China. The Chinese government is also trying their best to build up their entertainment industry since they are concerned about western propaganda though to be fair they have good reason to be concerned.

Crispy45 wrote:
You want the real straight-to-the-point reason? Because Asian-Americans aren't a big enough group or vocal enough to raise much of a stink so studios can get away with it. Live-action anime adaptions are much easier to race swap than anything else because most of the progressive crowd does not care one bit about either anime or Asian representation.

True, and Hollywood only cares about money and political power which is why Asian representation usually has the same level of concern as Native American representation. Hollywood will happily replace Asian characters in live action adaptations of anime/manga such as Dragonball Evolution because it doesn't matter to them. The only reason that Hollywood is starting to make movies for China is because of the size of the Chinese market.
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nDroae



Joined: 26 May 2017
Posts: 382
PostPosted: Wed Jul 17, 2019 2:38 pm Reply with quote
I've mentioned that several times over the years and this is the first time I've actually got an informative answer, thank you for that. Smile
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