‘Akira’ Live-Action Film Is Up and Running Again, This Time With New ‘Daredevil’ Showrunner

A live-action, big screen adaptation of classic Japanese anime Akira has been in the works since 2008, when Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way and producer Andrew Lazar acquired the rights to the project. Several starts and stops ensued, with several writers and directors attached and many actors eyed for leading roles at various stages. Last we heard, Akira was dead, but it is now very much un-dead as Warner Bros. has hired new Daredevil showrunner Marco Ramirez to write the screenplay.

THR reports that WB has set Ramirez to deliver a screenplay for the live-action adaptation, which is back up and running again after several false starts. Ramirez wrote for the first season of Daredevil and replaced Season 1's Steven DeKnight as showrunner for Season 2. Ramirez’s writing credits also include Orange Is the New Black, Sons of Anarchy and DaVinci’s Demons.

The most recent director attached to Akira was Non-Stop and Run All Night’s Jaume Collet-Serra, who was reportedly tasked with slashing the budget in half, taking it down to $60 million. Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, low-budget directors of Paranormal Activity 3 and Paranormal Activity 4, were rumored as contenders to take over the project, which switched settings from Tokyo to a futuristic New York.

WB has eyed several big name stars to lead Akira over the years, including Brad Pitt, Keanu Reeves, Robert Pattinson, Andrew Garfield, Michael Fassbender, Chris Pine and Joaquin Phoenix. And that’s not even half of the actors WB has considered at various stages of development.

The live-action Akira movie may still not happen as there are a lot of elements that need to align to really get this thing off the ground once and for all. For the time being, at least, it seems like you’re allowed to be a little hopeful again.