A pair of intriguing, though disturbing, rumors of live action adaptations of Japanese anime productions have surfaced recently …
First, the US Sci Fi channel will be adapting Witch Hunter Robin into a tv series to begin airing either in 2004 and 2005. Sci Fi is obviously hoping to tap into the now Buffy-less legion of Vampire Slayer fans with this series following a pyro-kinetic girl who works with a secret government agency to track down rogue magic users. The original series is a personal favorite of mine, featuring some excellent animation and, more importantly, a complex and richly layered plot line that slowly builds into a pretty compelling climax, which is why I find this worrisome. The Sci Fi channel isn’t exactly known for high level production work – though I did enjoy their take on Dune – and the executive producer will be Star Trek vet Joe Menosky and Star Trek has never been known for espousing the type of vagaries that make the original Witch Hunter so gripping. I’m hoping they surprise me with this one.
Also coming down the pipe is a live action adaptation of Akira … No clue who’s releasing or directing this, but someone posted this link to the KFC Cinema message boards. Scroll down to see the motorbike and riding suit they’ll be using in the film. I’d love to see this work, but classic or not the original Akira is already a nearly incomprehesible mess that attempts to compress a few years of running manga storyline into a feature film timespan. Again I hope I’m wrong but to refilter something that’s already been so compressed could be a recipe for disaster …
Hard to say if the Akira shots are from the film, but the Japanese speakers at KFC seemed to think so … maybe these are concept vehicles done for the Norrington version?
Is that “Akira” link actually for a film project? I thought they were just taken at some motorcycle convention, and were merely fan creations rather than movie props. Sometimes I really wish I could read Japanese.
Up until last summer, Stephen Norrington was planning to do a Hollywood remake of “Akira”, though last I heard, he walked away from the project after “LXG” bombed. Which means it’s still in development, though with no director.
And hey, let’s not forget about the proposed live-action remake of “Evangelion”. There’s a 20-minute interview with WETA’s Richard Taylor (and some other guy whose name escapes me at the moment) on the “Neon Genesis Evangelion: Directors’ Cut: Resurrection” disc where they talk about some of the concepts, show off some sketches, and whatnot. While I’m skeptical, if anyone could pull it off, it’d be those folks at WETA.