Somebody* really, really really doesn’t want the live action remake of anime adventure Akira to happen. Because the film is back in limbo after Warner Bros. executives ordered the production offices shut down so more work can be done on the script.
According to the Heat Vision blog, the film, which finally seemed to be getting close to shooting this year, is still a big headache for the studio, though the exact reason appears unclear. The main suspect seems to be the movie’s old enemy: its script, which is still giving problems.
Though director Jaume Collet-Serra and the producers had sliced the size of the budget and begun dragging in a cast including Garrett Hedlund, Ken Watanabe, Helena Bonham Carter and Kristen Stewart, the issues mean that they may now end up booked when Akira pulls itself back on its feet.
Tthat "when" not "if" seems to be the prevailing thought right now: Warners has invested a lot of time and money developing this behemoth and isn’t going to let it just fade away into history as one of the big failed projects. But given how budget conscious even the large studios have become recently, it makes sense that everyone involved is trying to be careful…
*Possibly everybody.