When both star Keanu Reeves and directed Albert Hughes departed the project in May, many thought that the live-action remake of anime cult classic “Akira” at Warner Bros. Pictures had essentially died.
Indeed, for the past two months there’s been dead silence about the project aside from some comments the other week from designer Chris Weston about his work on the new incarnation of Kaneda’s iconic crimson motorbike.
Today however the studio is still keenly pursuing the project and Variety reports they have hired Spanish helmer Jaume Collet-Serra (“Orphan,” “Unknown”) to direct the film which is now being “re-envisioned as a $ 90 million tentpole”. Set in New Manhattan, the story follows the leader of a biker gang who saves his friend from a medical experiment.
How the studio intends to keep production costs that low for such an ambitious project is the big question this article raises. They most recently hired “Harry Potter” film adapter Steve Kloves to pen the script based on Katsuhiro Otomo’s original manga.
Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Davisson Killoran and Andrew Lazar are producing.
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