Taika Waititi Gives Surprising Update on Live-Action “Akira”

It’s been awhile since we had any kind of update on Taika Waititi‘s live-action adaptation of “Akira.” Many outlets seemed to think the project was dead, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. During the press tour for his current theatrical release “Next Goal Wins,” Waititi offered what to some may be a surprising bit of intel.

This live-action take on Katsuhiro Otomo’s original manga and (later 1988 anime) is being written by novelist Charles Yu (“Interior Chinatown”), and will apparently be taking it’s cues more from the manga than the iconic film. [The manga box set is pricey, but pretty amazing.]

“Obviously, I think people who loved the film, I want to make sure that they’ve also read the books because there’s a lot more in the books than there are in the film,” Waititi told Inverse. “And some people are very protective over the film, which is not quite the same as the books. So we’re drawing a lot from the books.”

Waititi had been on the docket to direct “Akira” since 2017. Then, in 2019, Leonardo DiCaprio‘s Appian Way was awarded upwards of $18.9 million from Warner Bros. Pictures to make the film. They were all set to start shooting in California, but, the world-wide Covid 19 pandemic kinda put a stop to that. Waititi left the project indefinitely to shoot “Thor: Love and Thunder” for Marvel Studios, and shortly thereafter, he was confirmed to be writing and directing an untiled “Star Wars” film.

While it does sound like maybe “Akira” is on the back burner while he plays more in the galaxy far, far away, it wouldn’t surprise us at all if it happens first. We’ll let you know what we hear about this and other news. “Next Goal Wins,” which is based on a true story, is in theaters now.