Otomo, who directed the much acclaimed 1988 cyberpunk anime film of the same name, will executive produce the live action films along with Appian Way’s Jennifer Davisson and Leonardo DiCaprio. Akira’s storyline centers on issues of social isolation, corruption and power in New Manhattan (Neo Tokyo in the manga) in the year 2030. Gary Whitta will write the script and Ruairi Robinson has been tapped to direct.
Warner Bros had to pony up seven figures to reacquire the rights from manga publisher Kodansha in a bidding war after they let the rights expire.
Source: Variety, Wikipedia
If you enjoyed this article, subscribe to our RSS feed or by e-mail to be informed when we post new ones.