Breathe a sigh of relief - "Akira" live-action remake has been shelved

by Chris MaGee

Well, we might be coming to the party a bit late on this news item, but better late than never. Bloody Disgusting has reported that the long rumoured live-action remake of Katsuhiro Otomo's "Akira" has been officially shelved. We had been following reports since last October that Leonardo DiCaprio's production company Appian Way in conjunction with Warner Brothers was working feverishly to bring Otomo's vision of a futuristic Tokyo besieged by bike gangs and secret, government run psychic experimentation to U.S. screens (read or full coverage here). Apparently a director, 31-year-old Ruairi Robinson, had been brought on board, but has since left the project, and with him has gone any hope that this film will see the light of day. The folks at Bloody Disgusting seemed disappointed at this, but I think I can speak for a lot of you out there that I'm breathing a sigh of relief. Some films can stand the remake treatment, but a classic like "Akira", well... it's best left untampered with.

No word on if or how the demise of DiCaprio's/ Appian Way's live-action "Akira" will effect the "Titanic" star's plans to also bring a live action "Ninja Scroll" to the screen.