Like a horror villain who returns every couple of years to wreak terror once more, the live-action Akira remake is back in development — with a vengeance. According to Variety, Warner Bros. and director Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown, Orphan) — along with Mad Chance and Leonardo DiCaprio‘s Appian Way — are considering a return to the project which, 19 months ago, had stalled out on their watch, this next go-round offering the helmer “a new way to appraoch [sic] the adaptation that would meet the studio’s budget request.” And if you believe the sources, it’s all about said approach — albeit one we’re not made privy to.
It’s a bit hard to invest, then, and a proposed cast wasn’t fixing problems. Before its coffin was nailed shut, Akira had been expected to star Garrett Hedlund, Ken Watanabe, Kristen Stewart, and Helena Bonham Carter — while Michael Pitt or Dane DeHaan were, if nothing else, under consideration — a lineup that, though uneven, is at least certainly no more. A few of those windows have likely closed, unless a proposed spring 2014 start date is the kind of kick personal reasons for retention would need. But the problem should fix itself, in time — for one thing, how has two-time collaborator Liam Neeson not already answered a few calls? That, I think, is one reason to give this another shot. So, there is one.
Is a second chance for the American Akira something you can at all tolerate?