Earlier in the year it looked like
Get Out's Director Jordan Peele was the frontrunner for directing the live action
Akira movie, but now we can put that rumor to rest. According to Blumhouse, Jordan Peele revealed that he wasn't really interested in the project when he said;
“I think [I could do it] if the story justifies it.
Akira is one of my favorite movies, and I think obviously the story justifies as big a budget as you can possibly dream of. But the real question for me is: Do I want to do pre-existing material, or do I want to do original content? At the end of the day, I want to do original stuff.”
Warner Bros had tabbed Jordan Peele as their
frontrunner, but now they're back to square one.
Akira was green lit by Warner Brothers Entertainment back in 2011, but later stalled the project to revise the script to make the film more affordable. Since then, there hasn't been much progress on the film. The news of Peele not being interested is another blow to the films chances of hitting the big screen.
There is hope, however, that we will see the live action adaption of Akira in the future. Netflix's live action adaptation of
Death Note is set to release in August and Fox's
Battle Angel Alita is coming in 2018. Should these film do well, a live action Akira wouldn't be to far behind.