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Variety: Warner to Decide on Live-Action Akira Next Week
posted on by Egan Loo
Showblitz, the blog of the entertainment trade magazine Variety, reported on Friday that Warner Bros. will decide on whether to green-light the live-action film adaptation of Katsuhiro Ōtomo's science-fiction manga Akira next week. According to Showblitz, the producers gave a presentation on Wednesday, and sources are "confdent that [Warner Bros.] will be happy" with the revised budget.
Variety had reported in July that Warner hired director Jaume Collett-Serra (Unknown, Orphan, House of Wax) to direct the film, which was "being reenvisioned as a $90 million" blockbuster project. In May, previous director Albert Hughes left the project due to "creative differences" on the film.
The development team with producer Andrew Lazar (Jonah Hex, Space Cowboys, Get Smart) hired a writer named Albert Torres last year, after screenwriters Gary Whitta, Mark Fergus, and Hawk Ostby were previously attached to the project. 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) is producing through his Appian Way production company.
[Via Comic Book Movie]
