Good lord, what a ride it must be to be a producer on this Akira remake. First it was going to star Leo DiCaprio and cost something like $200 million. Directors have come and gone, with Albert Hughes originally being attached, then Rauiri Robinson. Its script has rewritten multiple times. And yet Warner Bros., despite green-lighting the film not too long ago, has now reportedly shut down the film's Vancouver production offices, seeking to halt development until another 20 or 30 million dollars from the budget. Its budget is right now around $90 million, but as THR puts it:
With only Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy) signed on to star, and Kristen Stewart, Ken Watanabe and Helena Bonham Carter in various stages of dealmaking, the studio feels that the price tag is still too high for a sci-fi project with that level of star wattage. The goal, say insiders, is to bring the budget down to between $60 million and $70 million.
This isn't the first big production to be shut down recently, with Johnny Depp and Gore Verbinski's The Lone Ranger being halted at the insistence of Disney, which wanted to cut its budget down to "only" $215 million from its original budget of around 250 or so. Akira sounds like it'll be in a similar situation; no one seems to be floating the possibility of the movie being cancelled, at least.
Still, it's bizarre, and a little schizophrenic, to keep contracting a budget, especially while a movie is in active pre-production. One would only expect that that would have to involve scrapping a lot of already-performed pre-production, and I would imagine that it'll probably affect the film's ability to attract talent, as well. Kristen Stewart ain't cheap.
GOOD.
Just cancel this god damn thing already, no good will come of this. Devoted fans will be outraged, and the average moviegoer will not give a fuck about Akira.
I expect nothing less than the Dragonball: Evolution treatment for this movie, which would appeal to NOBODY.
@CharAznable: No kidding. I have no idea who exactly they expect to attract to this thing.
@gelatinabomination said:
God, you guys are such a-holes!
Just cancel the whole thing already. Nobody seems to have any idea of what do with the project and it doesn't seem to be getting anywhere anytime soon. I've never seen the original Akira but from the sound of things, this project is doomed to be terrible.
Yeah i agree Akira could make an amazing live action movie but without a big budget and people who know what they are doing it will probably be nothing like the original and suck. To be fair though the movie is dark and strange i cant see how it would appeal to a wide audience without dumbing it down so i can see why studios are struggling with it.
@Makoto_Mizuhara_Sakamoto: Whaddya mean? Are we being too mean to a movie that was destined to be horrible in it's current state?
KANEDA!!
@gelatinabomination said:
Hoo-fucking-haw (expression of elation).
Thank Fucking God
Part of me would like to see a live-action adaptation of Akira, another part of me says, "just leave the original animated version alone". Perhaps the latter mind set should be applicable given all the delays with this one.
Really, though--Kristen Stewart? You've gotta be shitting me.
It will be back. You can't keep a franchise which already has some name recognition down forever. This is just one step in its turbulent life cycle which will eventually bring it to the big screen. Who knows, maybe James Cameron will drop his Battle Angel Alita musings and do a 3D Akira with a complete CG cast. No one can complain about the ethnicity of the actors then.
For now, though, it's good that it's shut down since the project seems to have lost all direction and momentum.
Great. Whatever. Fine.
Just make it like Sin City, for Christ's sake. That movie only cost 40 million dollars.
And was great.
that reminds me...what ever happened to cowboy bebop? lol
Consider me unsurprised. Anime that gets picked up for live action movie adaptations always get stuck in a limbo to spiral into oblivion. Same thing happened with the Evangelion movie. The Dragonball movie only managed to get made because the series has a huge following.
@gelatinabomination: It would've been better than 'Speed Racer', that's for damned sure.