Shock Till You Drop has posted an interview with Laeta Kalogribis, the current screenwriter for Steven Spielberg’s planned live-action adaptation of Masamune Shirow’s Ghost in the Shell cyber-police manga. Kalogridis was once also hired by James Cameron to script his planned adaptation of Yukito Kishiro’s Battle Angel Alita (GUNNM) manga. She is also an executive producer and screenwriter on Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island and an executive producer on Cameron’s Avatar.

Kalogribis confirms that she is is still working on the draft of the script for Ghost in the Shell. When asked if Steven Spielberg came to her to adapt the manga, she said, “Dreamworks has the material and I have loved it for years and years and years. They contacted me about it when they found out that I was interested. I mean, there’s just no other property quite like it.” She also added, the film “could actually be three two-hour movies, which is what I would vote for.”

In a separate development,MTV.com posted a clip from a video interview with Appian Way’s Leonardo DiCaprio regarding his next project. When asked if DiCaprio’s next project will be the live-action film adaptation of  Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira manga or Twilight Zone, DiCaprio said, “You know, you never want to say anything is going to happen in this town, because everything gets thrown out the window one day and is green-lit the next.”

DiCaprio explained why neither films are his top priority right now, saying, “It’s all about the material at the end of the day, that’s why (Shutter Island) is something of a godsend. When you get good material, you have to jump on it and try to make it as best you can, because it is few and far between.”

Last week the New York Magazine’s Vulture blog reported that the Hughes brothers — the directors behind Menace II Society, Dead Presidents, From Hell, and The Book of Eli — are negotiating with the Warner Brothers movie studio to direct the film. Sometime this week and official statement from Warner Brothers will be made regarding to the Huges brothers directing Akria.

Source: Anime News Network

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic, The Aviator) is producing the planned live-action film adaptation through his Appian Way production company. Mad Chance producer Andrew Lazar (Jonah Hex, Space Cowboys) said at Comic-Con International in August that the live-action project “is a real priority project for Warner Brothers” but is not likely to go into production before the third quarter of 2010 for a 2011 release. Otomo is an executive producer and consultant on the project.

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.

Discuss this news further on the forum.

It seems that our assertion last month that Warner Bros.’ plans to adapt Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira to live action had fallen through may have been premature. ANN reports (without so much of a mention of bloody-disgusting.com’s claims that the project was “dead as a doornail”) that in an interview at Comic-Con International last week, Mad Chance producer Andrew Lazar stated that the Akira adaptation “is still a real priority project for Warner Brothers”.

Lazar said that writers for the adaptation were working on a draft; however, he cautioned that it would still be a long time before the film goes into production proper. “Some movies need an enormous amount of prep, like this one,” he said. “It is not realistic to go before the third quarter of next year for a 2011 release”.

Katsuhiro Otomo, the original creator of the Akira manga and director of the 1988 anime adaptation, will serve as executive producer and consultant on the upcoming adaptation.

Thanks to forum member kmccaskill for the heads up on this bit of news. You can discuss it further over on the Forums.

Well it appears that now Robinson has left the project and Bloody-Disgusting has confirmed through two different sources that the film is “dead as a doornail.”

So there you have it.  Seems as though we won’t be getting a live action Akira movie as soon as we thought.  But you never know, perhaps this could open something up for someone else to come in with fresh ideas and it’ll pick back up again.

Discuss on our Forums.