A film that has been bandied around for some time has been a live action adaptation of the legendary Japanese manga Akira. And the man attached to it for some time has been Keanu Reeves, which would make another Japanese-centric film he’d be the star of. JoBlo is now reporting that Reeves is passing on Akira and now the project is in some jeopardy.
Reeves joins Brad Pitt, James Franco and Ryan Gosling of actors in having passed on the project, which is still in the developmental stage. Budget seems to be the issue as Warner Bros. is trying to cut it down from $140 million to something more palatable
What does it mean? My thoughts on Reeves the Samurai are already known, but major names keep passing on Akira for a reason. Whether it’s just not a good script or something else major there’s something about a project of this side consistently that makes you scratched your head. I think Warner Bros. might be getting ready to cancel this despite their protestations. From the story itself:
Early Thursday morning, sometime after receiving word from Reeves’ reps that he would be passing on the project, Warner Bros. shut down AKIRA’s pre-viz department and most of the staff that was working on the film was let go. While it may be easy to draw conclusions when you see both events taking place in the same week, I’m told that one has nothing to do with the other. Warners, who has a close relationship with Reeves after the MATRIX films, was disappointed he passed but are still actively looking for a lead.
When asked to comment on the production shake-up, Warner Bros. released the following statement: “Production on ‘Akira’ has not halted or been shut down, as the film has not yet been green lit and is still very much in the development stage. The exploratory process is crucial to a project of this magnitude, and we will continue to sculpt our approach to making the best possible film.”
Normally you don’t lay everyone off and essentially start from scratch again if you’re going to keep the project around. This has all the potential to become another Superman Returns and cost mountains of cash in pre-production because of delays, etc.
The one name that hasn’t been bandied around for the role is the film’s producer, Leonardo DiCaprio, who is a big enough star to get the film off the ground if he decided to take on the main role himself. That would be where the rumor mill probably ends up going next, if only because it is a logical decision if DiCaprio really wants to get this film made and finds time in his schedule.
