Akira movie adaptation is over.

I think everyone knew this was coming, but a concept artist for Akira, Chris Weston, has come out and said the movie is being shutdown. Who cares?…well, I guess it isn’t a really big deal, but there is a cool fucking movie there damnit. It doesn’t make any sense.

Well, actually it does. The movie would be unbelievably expensive and the story is so “Japanese” it would be hard to bring it to an American audience. Also, weird updates were being brought to the table, for example Christ Weston posted on his site that, “Well, I can tell you that on my first day on the job I was asked to ”redesign the bike”!Yes, that’s right: THE bike.” I am certainly not a purist, but it is stuff like this that would ruin the whole movie. Not because “the bike” doesn’t look exactly the same, but because the spirit of cyber punk would slowly turn into Road Warrior.

Purists of the original are going to have to make some serious compromises if an actual Akira movie is ever made.  I really fucking despise people on the internets who say “There is a great manga and animated movie, why make a live-action?” Stupid fucking comment. What would have happened if Peter Jackson said that in regards to Lord of the Rings? Well, we wouldn’t have the best fantasy movies ever made.

Yes, it is a HUGE relief that Albert Hughes, the director of Book of Eli, isn’t going to be involved, but there is just something about seeing what you’ve look at in books and cartoons realized in a live-action space. There are times when a live-action adaptation can actually hurt the original material, (this recently happened to me when I watched Legend of the Seek) but for the most part any type of Akira-based movie, Americanized or not, would be fine by me.

-Collin