Taika Waititi has a full slate of movies he needs to direct, and the live-action adaptation Akira is one of them, Inverse reported.
He did promise that his movie will go even further than the critically acclaimed film released in 1988.
“Obviously, I think people who loved the film, I want to make sure that they’ve also read the books because there’s a lot more in the books than there are in the film,” he said.
“And some people are very protective over the film, which is not quite the same as the books. So we’re drawing a lot from the books,” Waititi continued.
Akira (the movie) is 35 years old this year.
Akira has been one of the most popular anime in the U.S. The 35-year-old film has influenced many of Hollywood's directors such as Rian Johnson for Looper and Gareth Edwards' The Creator.
Waititi's version has rumored to be in development since 2017 and was supposed to be released in 2021. However, he worked on Thor which delayed Akira.
He said about the delay, “I'm still trying [to make it]. I don't wanna give up on that.”
Akira fan Michael B. Jordan was even asked by fans to take over instead, according to CBR.
Waititi's claims that his version will be more lore-accurate will make more sense for fans who have read the manga AND watched the movie. The film is currently available to stream on Crunchyroll.
Article Continues BelowThe platform describes it movie's plot as “Clandestine army activities threaten the war-torn city of Neo-Tokyo when a mysterious being with powerful psychic abilities escapes his prison and inadvertently draws a violent motorcycle gang into a heinous web of experimentation. As a result, a biker with a twisted mind embarks on a path of war, seeking revenge against a society what once called him weak.”
The manga was written by Katsuhiro Otomo. He also wrote the manga. However, there are differences in between the film and the manga (especially the conclusion) because the movie was released two years before the manga ended.
For those unfamiliar with this legendary anime classic, here's a bit of trivia:
The movie is widely credited as the anime that broke into the consciousness of Western mainstream media.
The title is written in Katakana as Akira, which doesn't really have a special meaning. However, when written in Kanji, it means “bright” or “clear.” As to why it's written in Katakana, the speculation is that since it's not possible to write in all-caps in Japanese, the creators wrote it in Katakana so it would look (at least in Japanese) like it's written as AKIRA.
It's called Akira, but its arguably most iconic character is Shotaro Kaneda. He's the one on the posters and does that neat skid on that fancy motorbike.
The live-action adaptation doesn't have a release date yet.