Akira is dead

At one point the AKIRA live-action remake at Warner Bros. had some serious steam and rumors started to surface that Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were set to star in the film. But the film, which was originally slated for a summer 2009 release, obviously isn’t here. So what’s the status of the film? According to Bloody Disgusting, it’s dead; “dead as a doornail” says their sources.

I know many of you out there love your WATCHMEN (both graphic novel and film) but for me, AKIRA is my WATCHMEN. I have all the manga, about every copy of the film available (VHS, two DVDs and the Blu-ray) and art from both hanging on my walls. Yet I’m happy to see AKIRA be dead. I’d rather have it be dead than have a shitty version in theaters and if it takes a few more years to get the right people involved, so be it. It took plenty of time with WATCHMEN but, in my mind, AKIRA needs that level of a commitment from a director (regardless of how you feel about how WATCHMEN the film turned out). So AKIRA is dead and director Ruairi Robinson, producer DiCaprio and Warner Bros. have moved on. At least until I can get my shit together and direct it my damn self.