Taika Waititi's AKIRA Will Be Released Summer of 2021 and Neo-Tokyo Setting is Confirmed
Warner Bros. has announced that the release date for director Taika Waititi's live-action adaptation of Akira is May 21st, 2021.
A new logline for the film was also released that confirms the film will be set in Neo-Tokyo and not the Neo-Manhattan setting that was previously rumored. That’ll make fans happy! That logline reads:
A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.
When previously talking about the movie and his vision, Waititi made it very clear that he would cast teenage Asians in the lead roles. He’s obviously looking to avoid any kind of whitewashing controversy. When asked about the casting, he said:
"Asian teenagers would be the way to do it for me and probably no, not, like no name, I mean sort of unfound, untapped talent. Yeah, I’d probably want to take it a bit back more towards the books.”
When talking about the direction he is looking to take the film, he said:
“What I wanted to do was an adaptation of the books, ’cos a lot of people are like, ‘Don’t touch that film!’ and I’m like, ‘I’m not remaking the film, I want to go back to the book.’ A lot of the people freaking out haven’t even read the books, and there are six gigantic books to go through. It’s so rich. But (the anime) Akira is one of my favourite films; my mum took me to see it when I was 13 and it changed my life.”
The studio has been trying to get this movie made for years with Leonardo DiCaprio and creator Katsuhiro Otomo as the producers and my excitement level for it has been pretty low… until Waititi jumped on board as the director! I’m actually looking forward to seeing how he handles this adaptation. I think he’s going to give us something awesome.
Source: Deadline