Warner Bros. officially green-lights Akira, Jaume Collet-Serra set to start in winter

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

Well gang, it’s official…Jaume Collet-Serra will indeed direct AKIRA for Warner Bros.!

Variety has it that studio officially green-lit the sci-fi remake, tagging the production with a late February/early March star date. No casting has been announced, but it seems a compromise has been made to bring the epic live-action tale in at a cool $90 million.

I’ll admit, I really know nothing about AKIRA, so I’m indifferent on this matter. We know Collet-Serra has done pretty good work with ORPHAN and UNKNOWN, and with his foreign sensibilities, we should be confident he’ll deliver. Right?

With many hands adapting Katsuhiro Otomo’s graphic novel, AKIRA goes like this:

Neo-Tokyo (now set in New Manhattan) has risen from the ashes of World War III to become a dark and dangerous megalopolis infested with gangs and terrorists. The government seethes with corruption and only maintains a token control over the powerful military that prevents total chaos and hides the secrets of the past. Childhood friends Tetsuo and Kaneda plunge into Neo-Tokyo’s darkest secret when their motorcycle gang encounters a military operation to retrieve an escaped experimental subject. Tetsuo, captured by the military, is subjected to experiments that make him a powerful psychic, but, unfortunately for Neo-Tokyo, Tetsuo’s powers rage out of control and he lashes out at the world that has oppressed him.

UNKNOWN stunner January Jones