Live-action ‘Akira’ Project Dead

At the beginning of 2008, a live-action version of the classic and hugely popular Japanese anime film, Akira, was announced to be on its way. At the time, a release date of Summer 2009 was being eyed. Here we are, Summer 2009, and there’s no sign of it. Hell, production hasn’t even begun, with the last update showing there was no script in place and no casting completed.

There may be a good reason for that. Bloody Disgusting is reporting that Akira is dead in the water. It appears Ruairi Robinson, who was due to make his directorial debut with the two-part story, has left the project, and the whole thing is now as “dead as a doornail.”

If true, and BD is claiming two sources as having confirmed it, then it’s a huge blow for the many people, including me, who were getting super-excited about the prospect of this movie. I can only hope the project has merely taken a flesh wound and could be revived in the near future rather than being completely buried.

For those who haven’t ever seen the original animated movie, I can only urge you to get hold of it on DVD or Blu-ray. Then at least you’ll know what to expect if the live-action version ever does make it into production. Which, at this point, doesn’t look likely.