Taika Waititi’s Live-Action Akira Movie Given Official Release Date

After years of trying to produce a live-action Akira movie, Warner Bros. have finally set a date of May 21, 2021. The film still has director Taika Waititi signed on.

Beloved Manga

Katsuhiro Otomo originally created the [easyazon_link identifier=”1935429000″ locale=”US” tag=”boundingintocomics-20″]Akira[/easyazon_link] manga series in 1982. It ran for eight years and was collected into six volumes by Kodansha.

The manga is set in a post-World War III world that was sparked by an apparent nuclear bomb attack on Tokyo. The cyber-punk series focused on Tetuso, a powerful telekinetic teen whose abilities threaten the world. The only person who can stop him is his best friend and biker gang leader, Kaneda.

The original manga series was translated and published by Marvel Comics under their Epic Comics imprint.

There series would get an anime adaptation in 1998 that help popularized the anime genre in the United States and quickly turned the series into a pop culture icon.

An Americanized Akira movie had been in development back in 2012 starring Garrett Hedlud, but reports indicate it was shelved due to the price tag.

Watiti is set go a more traditional route, saying he wants to find unnamed teenage actors to star in his production.

See Akira in theaters May 21, 2021.

Share: 
Mentioned This Article:

More About: