Production on Hollywood's adaptation of the 1988 Japanese animated film "Akira" has been shut down for the fourth time. However sources like Deadline, say the film is not dead. Is that like zombie "not dead"?
The film has been in development hell since Warner Bros. acquired the rights almost ten years ago. Big names have been attached and replaced as to who would produce and direct the film.
Its decision to use caucasian actors instead of Japanese actors has undoubtably placed a stigma around the film and its direction. There have been already serious rumblings calling for a boycott against the film.
It would be great if we knew that this film was to be remade like The Magnificent Seven remade the Seven Samurai. Or if it would result in iconic imagery like Fistful of Dollars from Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo. (FYI. Kurosawa sued the producers for ripping off his film) But gut says something different doesn't it? The budget cut from $150 million to $90 million isn't helping either.
The more this film gets passed around and discounted like an old bottle of dimestore liquor, the more it feels there's something "greasy" going on. But maybe that's not just the film but just film business in general:
As film director Alexander MacKendrick once said, "...the money making is what the [film] business is about. The deal is the real product. The movie is just an incidental by-product of the deal."
Hate to say it but I think they would make more money just converting the original Japanese Akira anime to 3D and re-releasing it in theaters. I'm quite sure it would pull off the same surprise the Lion King 3D did last year.
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