Although he’s currently in pre-production on his next film Jojo Rabbit – where he’ll portray an imaginary Hitler – director Taika Waititi also remains in development on the long-gestating live-action Akira movie.
Waititi has previously said that he’s keen to adapt the original manga rather than the iconic anime film, and the Thor: Ragnarok helmer has reiterated that in an interview with Dazed:
“I haven’t really started to get my head around it yet. 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.”
Warner Bros. first acquired the rights to Akira back in 2002, and the project has passed through the hands of a number of writers and directors over the years as the studio struggled to make the project a reality. Perhaps Waititi will be the man to do it.
