Live Action Anime

Credit goes to ANN for this update. Gary Whitta, former screenwriter for Warner Brothers’ upcoming live-action adaptaion of Akira, has recently posted an update on some details of the film’s script. The script has since been turned over to Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, with Whitta not having worked on the project “for about a year”. Nevertheless, some new details have emerged. Although Whitta has never had a face-to-face meeting with Katsuhiro Otomo, author of the original Akira manga and director of the legendary 1988 anime adaptation, the two consistently kept in touch, with Otomo making notes on his thoughts of the script’s preliminary drafts.

It’s also emerged that the film – at least in Whitta’s drafts – will be adapting all six volumes of the original manga (in contrast to the 1988 film, which was made while the manga was being serialised and only drew on the first three volumes).

Whether or not Otomo is still being kept in the loop on the film’s progress has yet to be revealed, but it’s good to know that the script in its early form was met with his approval (excellent writer that he is). Akira is being produced by Appian Way, a production company run by Leonardo DiCaprio. The project has been said to be a priority for Warner Brothers; nevertheless, we’re unlikely to see it released before 2011.

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