The remake of Katsuhiro Otomo’s original classic manga and anime, Akira, can’t seem to catch a break. The project has been struggling in development for years, but things have been looking up for the Hollywood remake in the past few months.
Back in July, Unknown’s Jaume Collet-Serra signed on to direct the film, and we’ve seen some brilliant casting news recently, with Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Ken Watanabe, and Helena Bonham Carter all being courted for leading roles, all of which you can catch up on here.
Now, however, production offices in Vancouver have been shut down, and the below-the-line talent and crew are being told to go home, THR report. The reason for this remains unclear, with different sources citing different reasons.
One insider describes the problem as being budget-related. Collet-Serra has already reduced what was a substantially larger budget to bring it down to a more modest $90m. range for Warner Bros. But this insider says that that figure is still too high, with an aim to bring it down further to the $60-70m. range. Another insider, though, says that the budget isn’t the problem, which is to remain at $90m., and production is being halted because of script issues.
It sounds as though script work is going to be done, with THR noting that the producers will be working with Collet-Serra to iron out the script over the next two weeks, and it is currently unclear whether Steve Kloves, well known for his work on the Harry Potter films, will come back to work on the rewrite he did for the project.
Whether it is the script or the budget that’s currently causing the problems, I’m just hoping that the film will still be able to go ahead, and stay close to its initial production estimates. Filming was originally expected to begin in February or March this year, so hopefully some productive work can be done in the next few weeks to make that still happen.
One positive note for those, like me, who’ve been looking forward to this remake for some time:
“Sources close to the project say Akira isn’t dead yet. “It’s a very resilient movie,” says one insider. “Warner Bros. just won’t let it die.””
That Warner Bros. want this to happen too definitely makes me optimistic. Of course, they’ll only want to make it if they think that it will be good and that it will make them a return on their money. The worldwide audience that already knows or has heard of the original manga/anime should give them a substantial built-in audience for the film if it’s good, and add to that the big names that are set to lead the cast. So keep your fingers crossed that they’ll remain resilient with the project, and that it will keep all of its current expected stars, because that’s a cast list I’d love to see all together on this. More news as we get it.
