Big Acting Names Emerge for U.S. Re-Make of "Akira"

by Marc Saint-Cyr

As "Sucker Punch" gets pulverized by critics and grimace-inducing trailers for "The Smurfs" and Mr. Popper's Penguins" hits the inter-webs, what little hope there remains in Hollywood films seems to dissolve by the minute. One piece of news that won't make matters in this area any better is the recent emergence of a list of big-name stars that are curently circling the long-rumored American remake of the beloved 1988 anime classic "Akira." This project is being put together by Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures, will be based upon a re-written script by Steve Kloves and directed by Albert Hughes and is expected to begin production this upcoming August. Now for the actors: Robert Pattinson, Andrew Garfield and Jamesw McAvoy are among the names circling around the character of Tetsuo, while the role of Kaneda is expected to go to one actor out of a group that consists of Garrett Hedlund, Chris Pine, Justin Timberlake, Joaquin Phoenix and Michael Fassbender. It's somewhat reassuring to see that some interesting actors might become involved in this film - but not too reassuring. With a premise that relocates the original storyline to "New Manhattan" and the almost-definite probability that the end product will be a watered-down, piss-poor product that does little to no justice to the original film, it's hard to say that we at the Pow-Wow are actually enthusiastic about this thing happening. Morbidly intrigued, maybe - but even that might be pushing things too far. In the meantime, we'll just provide you with this information and leave you to form your own expectations about this latest desperate Hollywood enterprise.

Many thanks to the folks over at Deadline for the info on this story.