Although Warner Bros. acquired the rights for a live-action version of legendary anime and manga Akira more than a decade ago, the studio has yet to produce even a minute of its promised version of the psychic cyberpunk epic.
Recently, the project has been hit hard by a fan backlash to alleged deviations from the source material, such as moving the setting to New York. The reaction has also been less than positive to rumors of changing the ethnicities (but not the names, curiously) of Akira’s originally entirely Japanese cast. With Zac Efron, James Franco, Justin Timberlake, Joaquin Phoenix, Keanu Reeves, and Gary Oldman all at some point rumored to be attached to the film, I was starting to feel a little left out, as I suspected I might be the last non-Japanese guy not being offered a chance to portray motorcycle gang leader Kaneda or his mentally unstable pal Tetsuo.
But while Warner Bros.’ Akira looks to be stalled for the foreseeable future, a group of Canadian fans has out together a trailer showing what they’d like a live-action version of the anime to look like.
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