Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

Akira

1/5/12 - Warner Bros is shutting down Akira in the face of casting, script and budget issues, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The production offices in Vancouver are being closed, with below-the-line talent and crew told to stop working.  Producers, who include Appian Way’s Jennifer Kiloran Davisson and Mad Chance’s Andrew Lazar, will hunker down with director Jaume Collet-Serra for the next two weeks to iron out the script.  If the issues cannot be resolved, the project could end up being shelved entirely, say insiders.  Collet-Serra already had halved the budget from the incarnation that Albert Hughes was going to direct. He now is working on a budget in the $90 million range. But with only Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy) signed on to star, and Kristen Stewart, Ken Watanabe and Helena Bonham Carter in various stages of dealmaking, the studio feels that the price tag is still too high for a sci-fi project with that level of star wattage. The goal, says an insider, is to bring the budget down to between $60 million and $70 million. However, another source close to the production says the script, rather than the budget, has skidded the production. The project, this person says, will remain in the $90 million range.  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.”  Warner Bros. declined comment.

11/3/11 - Garrett Hedlund is in negotiations to star as Kaneda in Warner Bros’ adaptation of the Japanese manga classic, Akira, being directed by Jaume Collet-Sera, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  In post-apocalyptic New Manhattan, a motorcycle gang leader must stop fellow gang member and his brother from abusing his newly acquired telekinetic powers.  The movie has been long in the works, with its budget finally being approved two weeks ago, paving the way for offers to go out. Helena Bonham Carter and Gary Oldman have been approached for roles, as has Keira Knightley. Thus far, only Hedlund has engaged.

5/6/11 – Akira, the live-action anime and manga property, is zeroing in on its star, and it just might be Keanu Reeves, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  Warner Bros. has been having a tough time finding the two leads of the movie, to be directed by Albert Hughes. In the script, the action moves from Neon-Tokyo to New Manhattan, where a biker gang leader tries to save his best friend from a medical experiment that threatens to unleash destructive powers.  Reeves has held talks with the studio for the part of Kaneda, the gang leader. Reeves doesn't yet have an offer for the role, but we hear the talks with his reps have been going well.  Andrew Lazar is producing with Appian Way's Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran.

2/10/10 - Warner Bros. is in early talks with the Hughes Brothers to take on the sci-fi epic Akira next, according to The Hollywood Reporter.  Warner Bros. plans to adapt Katsuhiro Otomo's widely praised six-volume comic into two live-action films since it acquired the property two years ago with Legendary Pictures.  Writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby have drafted the script with Gary Whitta.  Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran of Appian Way are producing with Andrew Lazar. Otomo is an executive producer.  The new feature story line takes place in the rebuilt New Manhattan, where two friends in a biker gang struggle with the after-effects of an accident that gives one of them psychic powers.

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