It's 2016 and the film adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo's "Akira" is elusive as ever. Following years of development under Warner Bros.
Pictures, the manga still has not successfully made its way to the big screen. Several Hollywood stars have been linked to the project, including Keanu Reeves, James Franco, and Zac Efron, along with Justin Lin, who was rumored to be in talks to direct the film, and "Daredevil"'s Marco J. Ramirez penning the script.
However and rather unfortunately there is no concrete evidence that these names are officially attached to the "Akira" film adaptation. However, Screenrant reports that "Akira" concept art has surfaced showing "Captain America" himself, Chris Evans, along with Joseph Gordon-Levitt supposedly as Kaneda and Travis. Slashfilm reports that the drawings by Ruairi Robinson portray the story in something that looks like New York instead of the original Tokyo, which is problematic given the whitewashing being done in several Hollywood film adaptations of both Eastern materials and even big-budget Marvel films (see "Doctor Strange").
— Erdem Tatar (@erdemtatar) June 30, 2016
How likely is it that production will begin and put two big stars such as Evans and Gordon-Levitt on "Akira?" First of all, Gordon-Levitt is set to appear in this year's "Snowden," an Oliver Stone-directed biographical political thriller film set to open in September. According to the actor's IMDB page, he does not have any other upcoming projects outside an untitled musical comedy, which makes him pretty free enough to take on a big-budget Hollywood remake of "Akira."
Evans, on the other hand, has "Gifted" coming out this 2017, alongside his girlfriend, Jenny Slate. Of course, he has "Avengers: Infinity War" in two parts, coming out in May 2018 and May 2019, but that doesn't mean he can't squeeze in time for another film because according to the Russo brothers, they plan to shoot both "Infinity War" films together.
The first "Akira" film adaptation was released in 1988, featuring Mitsuo Iwata as Shotaro Kaneda and Nozomu Sasaki as Tetsuo Shima. Otomo directed and produced the film. Whether or not a Hollywood film adaptation could make it to the big screen remains to be seen.
