Taika Waititi says Akira remake will eventually happen

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Last year we passed along the lame news that THOR: RAGNAROK director Taika Waititi's live-action adaptation of AKIRA was canceled so he could work on THOR: LOVE & THUNDER. And today the WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS filmmaker says he thinks the remake will eventually happen.

Specifically, he says:

The whole thing went on hold. We had to keep pushing the dates, and it encroached on the [THOR: LOVE & THUNDER] dates, which were immovable. So AKIRA ended up shifting two years down the track. So I’m not sure if even in two years I’d be — I don’t know what I’m doing in fucking two days. I think eventually it will happen. I’m just not sure if I’ll be doing it.

RELATED: TAIKA WAITITI'S AKIRA HAS BEEN CANCELED

The original anime is Rated R for graphic violence and brief nudity and follows this synopsis:

In 1988 the Japanese government drops an atomic bomb on Tokyo after ESP experiments on children go awry. In 2019, 31 years after the nuking of the city, Kaneda, a bike gang leader, tries to save his friend Tetsuo from a secret government project. He battles anti-government activists, greedy politicians, irresponsible scientists and a powerful military leader until Tetsuo's supernatural powers suddenly manifest. A final battle is fought in Tokyo Olympiad exposing the experiment's secrets.

RELATED: TAIKA WAITITI'S AKIRA WILL E.X.P.L.O.D.E INTO THEATERS MAY 2021!

Considered by many (myself included) to be the best anime ever produced, AKIRA currently holds an 89% approval rating over on Rotten Tomatoes with a  Critics Consensus that reads: "Akira is strikingly bloody and violent, but its phenomenal animation and sheer kinetic energy helped set the standard for modern anime." The live-action remake was set to be produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and hit theaters near you on May 21, 2021.

Bummer.