Jordan Peele Discusses 'Akira' Live-Action Adaptation He Turned Down
The ‘Get Out’ and ‘Nope’ director rejected the currently stalled project back in 2017.
During a recent appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Jordan Peele discussed the Akira live-action adaptation he turned down back in 2017. Despite being green-lit by Warner Bros. Pictures back in October 2011, the project centered around Katsuhiro Otomo iconic manga/anime has been stalled indefinitely.
Back in 2017, Peele shared in an interview, “Akira is one of my favorite movies, and I think obviously the story justifies as big a budget as you can possibly dream of. But the real question for me is: Do I want to do pre-existing material, or do I want to do original content? At the end of the day, I want to do original stuff.” Building on his sentiment, the Get Out and Nope director said, “It’s a project I’m so passionate about. I’m glad I didn’t do it because I feel like staying away from trying to interpret that IP set me on the path to creating something new. But I want to see Neo Tokyo. I want to see an all-Japanese cast, and I want to feel immersed in the world, the way of the films in the manga.”
Currently, Taika Waititi is attached to the Akira live-action adaptation though “more creative disagreements over the project” are believed to be slowing development.
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