AKIRA Lands ‘Get Out’ Helmer Jordan Peele With Talks To Direct
Fact: Actor and comedian Jordan Peele is the person I think anyone commonly would be sought after for a big scale production like the long-gestating Akira movie from Warner Bros. Pictures. Nonetheless, you would be wise to look at the successes the aforementioned comedy star has earned having helmed one of the more zestful flicks as of late, Get Out, for Blumhouse as per his directorial debut.
That film has since crossed well past the $150 million dollar barrier since releasing in theaters on February 24 apart from its rave reviews in the weeks following its Sundance premiere if thereafter. Such is the zeitgeist that now embroils the appeal in which Peele now lays potential claim with word via The Wrap that he is now in talks to pick up where Warner Bros. Pictures left off in its efforts to find a director for the long-gestating development of the live-action manga/anime film, Akira.
The 1982 Kodansha publication by creator Otomo Katsuhiro and the 1988 anime film that followed focused on two members of a biker gang, childhood friends Kaneda and Tetsuo, living in post-apocalyptic Neo-Tokyo who find themselves embroiled in government corruption and secrecy when a military experiment turns Tetsuo into a psionic madman. Akira is long considered a staple of Japanese science fiction, cyberpunk and action entertainment culture, in addition to adding to much of Otomo’s acclaim as one of the most prolific innovators in the world of film and entertainment; Frustrated by the stagnation and fan outcry, Otomo himself boasted in late 2014 about developing his own live-action take with a movie that would make fans happy. Nearly a year later, reports surfaced that Dunkirk helmer Christopher Nolan was in line to help develop a trilogy.
Peele’s success with Get Out provely shows his ability to adapt to other genres and areas of film. With any luck, he’ll be able to provide the same acumen with Warner Bros for a suitable adaptation that avoids the negative woes often drawn with taking a Japanese property and Americanizing it. If confirmed, the director will mark the end of a fifteen year phase for the film as it has remained in seemingly never-ending limbo, accompanied by revolving door of directors with the last being Jaume Collet-Serra (Run All Night).
Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way Productions and Andrew Lazar (American Sniper) are attached to produce the film. Marco Ramirez (Daredevil) is writing the script.
