Oh dear, Warner Bros isn’t having much luck with its live-action Akira remake.
Hot on the heels of Keanu Reeves’ abandonment of the project, the film has just lost its director, Book Of Eli helmer Albert Hughes.
Deadline put Hughes’ departure down to creative differences, with speculation rife that Hughes grew weary over the studio’s inability to find suitable actors for the film’s lead roles.
With a range of actors like Andrew Garfield, Robert Pattinson, Chris Pine and Zac Efron all shortlisted for the film, WB has clearly cast a wide net for its remake.
But it looks suspiciously like they don’t know exactly what they want from the film. Reeves was initially in place to play Kaneda, but he’s noticeably older than anybody else mentioned above.
Warner Bros is now looking for a replacement director for its two-part adaptation. You can bet they’ll be after David Yates now that he has put Harry Potter to bed (so to speak).
Meanwhile, there doesn’t appear to be any bad blood between the studio and Hughes – apparently he’s planning on making another, as yet undisclosed, project with them in the near future.
Buy Akira on DVD and Blu-ray : Akira - Collector's Edition Steelbook [Blu-ray + DVD] [1988] | Akira [Blu-ray] | Akira [DVD] | Akira - The Ultimate Collection [1991] [DVD] | Akira (Limited Edition) [DVD]
