Taika Waititi Is the Latest Director Considered for Live-Action ‘Akira’ Remake
In the year 2017, when a rising filmmaker demonstrates that he’s got some creative vision to flex, there’s only one place for him to go: into the Big Bin of Directors Who Might Do a New Akira! Jordan Peele wowed audiences with his horror flick-cum-racial satire Get Out, and as a reward for his efforts, the possibility of helming a live-action remake of canonized anime film Akira was dangled under his nose. After a couple months of suspense (and one thoroughly botched adaptation of Ghost in the Shell), Hollywood cooled its jets on anime adaptations and shelved the Akira project. Now it’s been unshelved, and the MCU’s newest sweetheart is in the running.
Deadline reports that Thor: Ragnarok and What We Do in the Shadows director Taika Waititi may take the high-profile Akira gig. The futuristic fantasy taking place in the sprawling globo-metropolis of New Manhattan would be an unprecedented test of Waititi’s skill as a manager of blockbuster-scaled resources — perhaps he has not yet been signed on the dotted line because studio heads are waiting to see how things go with Thor, his next major proving ground. And Akira would be no small undertaking, either; Warner Bros. shelled out seven figures for the rights, and they already intend to split the adaptation into two films, each covering three books in the six-book series. Or, as we’re currently calling this move, “pulling an It.”
Waititi’s plate is far from empty, though. He’s already signed on to handle the WWII-era dramedy Jojo Rabbit for Fox, with a start date projected in the spring. With that in mind, any involvement with Akira would follow a bit of a delay. But if someone’s gotta do it, why not pick someone who’s clearly good at this?