George Miller turned down live-action Akira movie
George Miller turned down the live-action Akira movie because “I don’t have the time to do everything.”
Mad Max: Fury Road director George Miller reportedly turned down the chance to direct the live action Akira movie.
Speaking to Yahoo! Movies, the legendary Australian director told them:
“There was talk of it,” he said, “But I’ve got so many things on my dance card, I don’t have the time to do everything.”
Miller also debunked rumours that Fury Road itself was, in fact, based on Akira.
“I don’t know where that came from,” he said. “I’m a huge fan of anime and the precision of that and to some degree Manga, even though I don’t read Japanese, but just the aesthetic of it. So Akira might have been one of the many movies but it certainly wasn’t one that directly influenced Mad Max.”
The live action Akira movie has been planned for a long time, and the project is sat at Warner Brothers with big hints that Christopher Nolan may be planning to direct it. Leonardo DiCaprio is definitely producing though his Appian Way production company for the studio.
The live action Akira movie has been in development for many years.
For those not familiar with the story of Akira, here’s a recap.
In 1988 the Japanese government drops an atomic bomb on Tokyo after ESP experiments on children go awry. In 2019, 31 years after nuking the city, Kaneda, a bike gang leader, tries to save his friend Tetsuo from a secret government project. He battles against anti-government activists, greedy politicians, irresponsible scientists and a powerful military leader until Tetsuo’s supernatural power suddenly manifest. A final battle is fought in Tokyo Olympiad exposing the experiment’s secrets.
The 1988 movie was written by Katsuhiro Otomo and Izo Hashimoto and based on Otomo’s manga of the same name, focusing mainly on the first half of the story. The rumours are that a new trilogy of live-action movies are planned at the WB, though this is yet to be confirmed. Miller would have been a kick-ass director to tackle the live action Akira movie… right?
