After numerous false starts, it looks like Warner Bros. has finally succeeded in getting their planned adaptation of classic manga/anime
Akira off the ground with Taika Waititi (
Thor: Ragnarok, What We Do in the Shadows) at the helm.
Back in
September of last year, Deadline mentioned that the studio was courting the director, but the trade's latest report suggests that Waititi has now signed on.
The news was actually buried in a story about the live-action movie scoring tax credits to film in California. Apparently, a 71-day shoot is planned that will employ more than 200 "below-the-line" crew and more than 5,000 employees. If WB wants to take advantage of this lucrative tax incentive,
Akira will have to start production in the next six months.
Akira is a very complex story, but at its core it's about two biker friends (brothers in the Americanized script) named Kaneda and Tetsuo who find themselves becoming mortal enemies when the latter begins to develop apocalyptic psychic powers, and a God-complex to match.
The project is still being produced by Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way, but we're not sure if the script by
Book of Eli writer Gary Whitta is still in play.
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