Back in October last year, we reported a rumor that the Japanese anime classic Akirawould eventually be getting a live-action remake. We finally haveofficial confirmation today that says there will not only be a newadaptation, but that it is being split into two movies! Warner Brothershas re-acquired the rights and is putting the first film intoproduction right away, aiming to release the first movie by the summerof 2009. However, the film is primarily going to beadapted from anime artist Katsuhiro Otomo's graphic novel more than theoriginal 1988 anime movie.
Warner Brothers exec Greg Silverman, who previously brought the studio 300 and Batman Begins, brought them Akiraand encouraged them to obtain the rights. Although the studio let go ofthe rights a few years ago, they fought to gain them back in a biddingwar, ending up paying in the seven-figures. The studio is describingthe film as "Blade Runner meets City of God", whichis a fairly fitting description for the story. Each movie will be basedon three of the six volumes from Katsuhiro Otomo's graphic novel thatwas first published in 1982.
The two films will be directed by Irish filmmaker Ruairi Robinson who is making his feature debut after directing a number of short films and commercials. You can watch his 2006 short titled The Silent City on his website here. The script for the two films is being written by first-time screenwriter Gary Whitta. Akirais a six-volume manga that was later adapted into an anime movie in1988. The manga takes place in a vastly larger timeframe than the filmand involves a far wider array of characters and subplots. Through thebreadth of the work, Otomo explicates themes of social isolation,corruption and power. The original anime and and manga was set inTokyo, but reports are saying this version will take place in "NewManhattan", a metropolis that was rebuilt after being destroyed 31years ago. This isn't fully confirmed and we're doing our best to seeif this is actually the case.
Kaneda is a bike gang leader whose close friend Tetsuo getsinvolved in a government secret project known as Akira. On his way tosave Tetsuo, Kaneda runs into a group of anti-government activists,greedy politicians, irresponsible scientists and a powerful militaryleader. The confrontation sparks off Tetsuo's supernatural powerleading to bloody death, a coup attempt and the final battle in TokyoOlympiad where Akira's secrets were buried 30 years ago.
I said it before when talking about the rumor,but this is going to make for one awesome live-action movie. Not onlyam I a big fan of the anime movie, but there are so many great actionscenes, like the futuristic motorcycle chases, that could be amazing inthe movie. I'm only concerned that they won't give this duo of filmsthe proper budget that they really need, especially with a first-time feature filmmaker working on them. Whatever the case is, I'll hope for the best!
akhirnya Warner Bros lepaskan jugak right utk AKIRA.
Leo Caprio as Kaneda and Joseph-Gordon Levitt as Tetsuo...and New Tokyo will be replace with "New Manhattan"...
Ruairi Robinson will act as the director and AKIRA will be his first debut motion picture with Leo Caprio serves as one of the producer.
hmmmm...even aku mmg berharap sgt AKIRA akan diadapt ke live-action tapi aku still ragu2 dgn cast selection dia...anyway all the best for Project AKIRA..looking forward to watch it in 2009.
p/s: aku still ingat masa Stephen Norrington (pengarah LXG) dikatakan dapat job adapting AKIRA ke live-action some where around 1999...berjuta2 fanboy AKIRA signed online petition nak boycott projek tu. AKIRA dikatakan impossible utk diadapt ke live-action, apa lagi dengan produksi Hollywood dan setting dan karekter di"barat"kan oleh Hollywood. Let see what happened with this one.
tapi leo jadi kaneda? cam xseswai je..tapi leo memang no prob la nak bwk watak ape pon. yang gordon levitt tu yang berlakon 3rd rock from the sun kan? memang sebijik gak la ngan tetsuo, muka cam sakit2 sket..tapi name mesti tukar...damn..
kepada mereka yang xtau, AKIRA ni telah dipilih sebagai manga paling hebat pernah ditulis...
jepun susah skit nak buat sebab Kondansha dah jual right live-action AKIRA ke Sony Pictures...then Sony Pictures plak tak mampu nak cover production cost yg pada masa tu cecah USD300 juta...so right tu dijual ke Warner Bros.
Warner Bros simpan right tu dekat 9 tahun then barula release right utk dijual ke produser yg berminat (which diaorang pilih jugak, in this case produser utk filem 300 dan Batman Begins). Right utk AKIRA dikatakan cecah berjuta2 kerana AKIRA merupakan classic yang mempunyai banyak peminat seluruh dunia. Even re-release AKIRA 2001 pun diaorang dah untung juta2.
lagi satu Jepun tak mampu nak cover cost production AKIRA eventho they got the technologies which is an advantage to Hollywood because they got the money and they can buy the technologies.
mengenai adaptasi AKIRA, dikatakan bukan direct-adaptation anime AKIRA tapi straight adaptation dari manga which means maybe takde Tetsuo, Kaneda even Kaneda PowerBike...maybe live-action ni prequel kepada anime AKIRA yg mana fokus kepada AKIRA (subject 28) tu sendiri...
Post time 25-2-2008 09:24 PM
变色卡
Author
