After being passed on by some great directors, and ultimately landing a great director in Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi in 2017, we now have a synopsis on the live-action Akira film. Akira is a manga and anime from the 1980s (the Anime is available on Hulu). The live-action version will be brought to life via Warner Bros. and Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company Appian Way. This will be Warner Bros second live-action anime/manga film after Detective Pokémon gets released this year. They’ve had a lot of success adapting books into film, and look to continue that success with Akira.
The live-action film will be different from the anime is most ways, but not all. The synopsis can read below:
“When a young man’s telekinesis is discovered by the military, he is taken in to be turned into a super weapon and his brother must race to save him before Manhattan is destroyed by his powers. Kaneda is a bar owner in Neo-Manhattan who is stunned when his brother Tetsuo is abducted by Government agents lead by the Colonel. Desperate to get his brother back, Kaneda agrees to join Ky Reed and her underground movement who are intent on revealing to the world what truly happened to New York City 30 years ago when it was destroyed. Kaneda believes their theories to be ludicrous, but after facing his brother again is shocked when he displays telekinetic powers. Ky believes Tetsuo is headed to release a young boy. Akira, who has taken control of Tetsuo’s mind, Kaneda clashes with the Colonel’s troops on his way to stop Tetsuo from releasing Akira, but arrives too late. Akira soon emerges from his prison courtesy of Tetsuo as Kaneda races to save his brother before Akira once again destroys Manhattan island as he did thirty years ago.”
This was released by Production Weekly via Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv0SHJ8oY1L/?utm_source=ig_embed
The biggest difference in the anime and the live-action film is the setting. The anime was set in Neo-Tokyo, and this film will be set in Neo-Manhattan. Also in the anime, Kaneda and Tetsuo are best friends, not brothers. Making the two brothers will make things more dramatic though in my opinion. The other differences are Kaneda not being in a biker gang, and since the film is based in New York, I’m going to take a shot in the dark and say the Colonel will not be Asian. The movie much like many live-action adaptions from manga/anime/comics, this film will be different.
This seems like it will have many similarities to the Blade Runner films as far as the look and feel of the film. Having Waititi on board to direct this film after seeing how he handled the color schemes and such for Thor: Ragnarok is very exciting. Akira is a film with a color scheme that is outrageous for it’s time. This film will be very fun, and entertaining as anime is becoming more popular by the day in modern pop culture.
Are you excited about Akira? Watch the anime and get familiar with it if you have not! Tweet us @FullCircleCine with your thoughts!
