I was pleasantly surprised when I first found out that this project was actually entering production and I’m still apprehensive with today’s casting rumor making the rounds that the Keanu Dude might want in on this project.
Source: AICN
Now comes word that Reeves has held talks with the studio, with whom he already made the massively successful Matrix movies, 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.
Reeves anchoring the project could serve as a strong lure for another A-lister to take the role of Tetsuo, the best friend.
I thought this movie was about young people. I do like the idea of this movie entering production but they are taking so many liberties with this projects’ adaptation that they might as well just re-title it and call it an original movie like Ridley Scott did with his movie. This news strongly reminds me why I shouldn’t have such an investment in an unfinished film because if I did, then I might be a little upset about this rumor.
Keanu would make an interesting choice in the role but I am not overly thrilled about him taking the role. What’s the nice way to say this? I would just like to see them go in a different direction.
C’mon Hollywood! You don’t mess with Anime classics. This is another film I just won’t pay for watching. Hollywood is lazy. Despite a small army of writers, they always prefer a sequel or remake when possible.
Pretty much what you all said. They are all way too old. This will end poorly. They should try Macross first =) Not this anime please.
They did Macross is was that Stealth movie, I swear that was a play off of Macross Plus. Also Cowboy Bebop I believe was the inspiration behind FIrefly Sooooo many common traits.
I think that this movie is going to be so ridiculously hard to turn into a live-action that, in many ways, as horrific as a Keanu Reeves casting sounds (and it does sound horrific), that would be the least of this movie’s problems. They’d have to make so many changes to the plot of this film, that they’d be so much better off just making something completely different inspired by these sorts of anime stories in general.
I, for one, would love to see more adaptations of animes being done by Hollywood. There’s some very good stories out there, and it’s one of the last great frontiers for easy adaptations now that super-hero comic book adaptations are growing old to at least some in the general public. All that said, there are better and more adaptable stories out there than Akira. Akira is a good movie, but it’s one of those movies that’s every bit remembered for its significance in bringing anime to something more closely resembling mainstream — and great for it’s time — than it is for being this something earth shatteringly spectacular.
If anything, I think another one of Keanu’s once-rumored projects would have been a much better fit for a first major live-action, English-language adaptation of an anime… Cowboy Bebop.
As weird and different as Bebop is from most Hollywood big budget films, given the fact that it takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where humans have gone to outer space, it’s actually a much more grounded story, and more importantly for movie audiences in the general public, is driven more by the characters in the series than it is metaphysical questions.
If done right, an Akira live-action movie could be fascinating, but not particularly mass marketable, which leads me to think they’ll do the whole thing wrong — dumb-down the thing to the point where it loses any sort of redeeming qualities, and try to sell the thing off cheap explosion effects.
Personally, if it were me, I’d ditch the whole biker gangs, and write the whole story around the concept of Akira, the person (and the experiments)… and then call it something else. There could be many other things (that resonate far better with today) rather than biker gangs to pit two former friends against each other, after one gains bizarre, personality-warping powers that threaten to destroy the world.
Getting an(older) A-lister is probally the only way to rope in Non-Anime/Magna fans. Like myself.
I don’t think Keanu Reeves ropes in any audiences these days.
Is Keanu the go to guy for anime to live action adaptation first cowboy bebop now this. Akira is an over rated anime in my opinion buy whatever if this does well then there is hope for better anime adaptations in the future. It is my dream to see a live action Gungrave.
Oh and also make a Live action Drizzt movie and we are good!
You alluded to one of my fears — you say if they do this and it does well, it bodes well for adaptions of animes in the future. I really think that works both ways — if they do this, it costs a lot (and it will) and it tanks, it will make it that much more likely studios won’t touch an anime with a 10 foot pole going into the future.
There’s better animes out there, and more importantly, there are more adaptable animes out there. If I were a studio looking for some new big thing to mine out there, I’d go with something that’s a little more grounded and character driven than Akira. Cowboy Bebop would have been a much better story to launch from, if they’re looking for something with a ‘big name,’ in addition to being a good story and adaptable, and so would a bunch of others. Unfortunately, I don’t think there are many Hollywood executives out there who know enough about animes to make this sort of distinction, and Akira is just about the only one they’ve heard about before.
Priest is based off of a MANGA, and Keanu was supposed to be spike for Bebop.
I want some Trigun and if they’re really lofty, Escaflowne. I love me some Escaflowne.
Correct me if I am wrong, but didn’t they talk about doing this movie years ago? With Keanu. Thought it was first mentioned around the Matrix period.
It was originally conceived as a vehicle for Leoardo DiCaprio.
Both of these actors are too old for the role if you ask me.
That’s right. I remember hearing about it around the same time I first heard about Will Smith and Spielberg being connected to an Old Boy remake.
Please tell me they are not making a live adaption of Akira. That makes absolutely no sense to me, just leave the film as it is.