The Hughes Brothers came back after a 9 year hiatus with The Book of Eli. It looks like they are getting right back into it as Vulture reports they are in talks to direct the live-action remake of Akira. They say the script is by Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby (Iron Man) but we know The Book of Eli screenwriter Gary Whitta was working on it at one point, so this connection makes sense. The film is to be produced by Leonardo DiCaprio‘s company, Appian Way as well as Andrew Lazar, who is doing Jonah Hex for Warner Brothers as well. Vulture reports the synopsis below.
Even if you had read all of Katsuhiro Otomo’s epic 1982 manga and/or seen his own 1988 anime adaptation, summarizing the plot to Akira would still prove a bit of a challenge. As near as we can figure, Akira is about the leader of a biker gang who tries to save his kidnapped pal from a powerful supernatural experiment. (It might also be a psycho-philosophical exploration of corruption, the will to power, and the maturation of man and mankind, but we were actually pretty high when we first saw it in college, so please don’t hold us to that.)
One of the most exciting things regarding this story is that Warners Brothers will honor the 182-page graphic novel source material by splitting up the film into two parts, due out next year.
What do you think about the Hughes Brothers directing the Akira remake?