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Live Action Akira by The Hughes Brothers, Live Action Battleship Yamato and a Bit on Ghibli's Borrowers
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Column by Scott Green
Hughes Brothers on Live Action Akira
New York's Vulture blog has learned that Warner Bros. to sign the Hughes brothers (From Hell, Dead Presidents, Menace II Society) to direct a live-action remake of the cult favorite Akira, from a script by Iron Man scribes Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby.
Akira is being produced by Leonardo DiCaprio's company, Appian Way, along with Andrew Lazar, who’s also currently producing an adaptation of DC Comics’ Jonah Hex for Warners.
In Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo presented a vision of Tokyo destroyed by war, rebuilt, and now ready to explode under the pressure of its internal strife. The movie's clashing biker gangs and heady psychic visions became an early testament to the violent, mature side of anime when the film was brought to North America in 1989.
The anime movie is currently available in North America on Blu-ray via Bandai. The manga, which was started before and finished after the anime, is available through Kodansha. The first volume of that new Kodansha release of the manga is reviewed here.
Live Action Yamato Poster
Via Psychommu Gaijin...
Live action Battleship Yamato
Space Battleship Yamato, localized in North America as Star Blazers, is Leiji Matsumoto and Yoshinobu Nishizaki's space opera that followed a desperate crew who flew a resurrected World War II battleship into the stars to save humanity from existential threats. The Takashi Yamazaki directed live action movie is scheduled to be released in Japan in December 2010.
And for more Yamato, the launch of the new pachinko game.
A Little On Ghibli's Borrowers
An image album is a soundtrack of music inspired by a movie, rather than from it. Nausicaa.net has a listing for the image album to Studio Ghibli's Karigurashi no Arrietty (The Borrower Arrietty), scheduled for Japanese release July 17, 2010. Key animator for Hayao Miyaki's Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle and Ponyo, Hiromasa Yonebayashi will direct the anime adaptation of Mary Norton's novel.
"Kari-gurashi," scheduled for April 7, features
01 A Different World
02 Arrietty's Song (English version)
03 Sho's Song
04 Sho's Lament
05 The Neglected Garden
06 Forbidden Love
07 My First Borrowing
08 Our House Below
09 Haru's Chase
10 Rain
11 Spiller
12 The Doll House
13 Departure at Dawn
14 Arrietty's Song (Japanese version)
The Sho character is a 12 year-old boy who is at the house for recuperation.
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I still can't see a live action akira in my head. I wonder if this time it will actually get made.
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Maybe we'l get a special freestyle from Tetsuo about being Fat?
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the animation is the only thing that makes it interesting...everything else is blah.
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...news.
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This Akira remake must not happen. IT MUST NOT!!!
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Failed to mention that they did Book of Eli. Anyone that has seen From hell will tell you that they are the right choice for an Akira movie, if any of you havent seen it give it a try... it is amazing and oh sooo bloody.
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Feb 10, 2010 8:13:19 PM CST
I'm fine with ALMOST any live action anime, but only if...
by ricarleite2
... it's made in Japan, with a japanese cast and crew. The only exception is Evangelion. Leave. That. Fucking. Alone.
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needs to be at the top of the page.
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looks pretty bleak too...wonder how many characters will die
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Why in God's name are they entertaining the thought of a live action version of AKIRA? What do they hope to accomplish besides butcher the already perfect original? Hell they should give the original a wide release like they never gave it back in 1990. I've never seen it projected
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...is the ONLY movie where i crid more than 3 times... tetsuo just wanted to fit in... then his gf is raped or was bout to be raped, his friends picked on him, got in a accident, was experimented on, accidentally killed his gf, then was killed by his friend... that flashback at the water fountain destroyed me... if they do make a movie (esp wit white people) i vote JGL for tetsuo...
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If only to piss off Anime fans. Him or Shia LaBeefsteak.
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Feb 10, 2010 9:16:29 PM CST
Why not get someone like Alfonso Cuaron, or Neill Blomkamp for A
by codename
That would make more sense.
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Unless all black directors look alike or something. Their track record in film is pretty much impeccable. Not liking the subject matter is different than the movie being garbage.
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I couldn't agree more. I think the Hughes Brothers have a visceral eye for delicate action. Yes, The Book of Eli was a little heavy on the moral issue (I can debate it wasnt, but wtf) but the action was amazing. I trust the Bros with an Akira adaption.
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we need to see another movie from him...for now, a one hit wonder.
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That Battleship Yamato poster is beautiful. Now THAT'S something I'd love to hang on my wall.
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They compeltly dropped the ball and missed the whole point of From Hell. Its one thing making a Jack the Ripper movie, its another thing making a From Hell movie. I see the Hughs fucking Akira up. Book of Eli was horrible. The only decent movie they made was Menace and even then the standards are low and its a untapped department comparing it to other hood films... All hood films have no vision so what, they make one that isnt commercilized trash and they get good criticism. Its not enough for the directors to make a good looking film but they also must ensure the content is every bit as deserving. I would much rather see someone else fill the shoes of this already unexciting uninspiring news.
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And what happened to the news we got months back saying Akira was dead. A live action Yamato? Would cost a fortune to make. Id settle for decent versions of the old stuff on DVD.
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heck... recolor it and make it 3D. Thats got to be worth something nowadays.
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Yeah, the characters weren't likeable, but that was the fucking point. Tetsuo ends up not being a very likeable character in the story, even if it is due to the mutation. I can see them slowly having him change over the film's period.
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Feb 10, 2010 9:37:29 PM CST
I am the hugest Yamato fan out there and I say the live action Y
by meta
As does most live action anime adaptations. But here's the main reason why Yamato will suck; Takuya Kimura - their star. Notice he is getting top billing on this project, but he is a mediocre actor at best. That means the Producers think he's going to be the draw to this film and not the story, not the FX and not the Yamato mythos. The reason he is the lead in this film (BTW: Kimura is 40 while the role is playing is supposed to be a 19 year-old) is because he's a super-popular pretty-boy in Japan. Teen girls follow his music career in the boy-band SMAP. Women swoon to his mediocre acting career on bad Japan TV dramas. That is why he's been cast, the producers want to get the non-otaku female demographics.
They figure they'll get the otaku whether they like the film or not. Everybody in Japan who actually cares about Yamato has been screaming bloody murder over his casting. There are a lot of great Japanese acting talent who could do the role much better and more convincingly than him, but because Kimura is represented by Johnny Kitagawa, he gets the role. Who is Johnny Kitagawa? He is the most powerful man in Japan. More powerful than any politician or businessman. He owns the largest management & talent agency for all the popular boy-bands in Japan. A multi-billion dollar a year industry, ever since he discovered he can not only use his boy bands to control the pop-music industry, but use them to control the film/tv industry as well. He commands so much fear and respect because all the TV & film companies desperately want Johnny's talent in their productions that they will do literally anything to keep him and his company happy. He is so feared, that when credible allegations and real investigations came out from accusations by several ex-talents, that Johnny Kitagawa uses his talent agency as his own child-molester candy store (Johnny likes his boys young), every news & TV outlet in Japan (except one magazine) refused to even cover the story for months out of fear of reprisal by Johnny Kitagawa that he'd block any talent from appearing on their TV station or in their magazines again. Many real (non-johnny's) acting talent in Japan hate the fact that Johnny Kitagawa's Agency gets to call the shots when it comes to most film/tv casting in Japan, because if you don't work for Johnny (and in some cases sleep with Johnny), you won't get cast as the handsome young male lead in any Japanese production. But if you speak out against him publicly, your career is officially dead in Japan. So yes, this will be a suck-fest of immense disappointment. -
$180 for a original VHS copy of Final Yamato from Books Nippon in 1984. No subtitles were even available on that release. Id found out about Books Nippon in Cali after Comics Scene magazine had done a article on Yamato and mentioned the store. Was saving for a guitar and bought Final Yamato instead.
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I mean Menace II Society (best of the socially conscious gangsta flicks), Dead Presedents (epic heist film), From Hell (better than the book!), and Book Of Eli (just awesome)... The Hughes Bros are great!
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I haven't seen a Japanese-made live-action where they've successfully employed cgi effects to merge with their actors/environments.
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Thanks for your info on the seedy underworld of japan entertainment... im half japanese and everytime i go back to the motherland (My mom is jap, get it) i always wonder whats smap is doin since it seems they are on every channel and ad... coincidentally few days ago i wikipedia smap (i was watchin that japanese western movie wit one of the boys in it) and found out bout johnny... tho i didnt know he was so evil... next time i go back ill try to start a media buzz bout him and see if i can get signed to somethin...
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What's all this New Manhattan non-sense? Major fail; why even call it AKIRA? Just call it JAMES, or something.
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to out-act a toon?
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....the big daddy of animation, and they are going to give the live action remake to these bozos. Give the Smothers Brothers a call they might be interested...
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Was surprisingly decent. cheesy ending with Mila all bad-asses out, though. speaking of Mila... the things I would like to do to her...
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Feb 10, 2010 10:45:37 PM CST
From Hell the comic is historic, it is like no other comic.
by dr.dirtyd
Being kind: You can't say anywhere near the same thing for the film.
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Feb 10, 2010 10:54:23 PM CST
LOL, How many Asian films do they need to Hollywoodize?
by ceejaynightwing
The only people who need to do live action version of these films are JAPANESE film studios. AKIRA is not an American themed story, it isn't about Americans, it's set in Japan, has Japanese characters and the film has a Japanese name based on one of the characters. If the Hughes brothers want to make it, then they'll need to do it justice and make the entire film with Japanese actors, YOUNG fresh Japanese actors! The story is about teens and changing the future through young minds with fresh ideas. You do not "Americanize" or "Hollywoodize" a great body of work like Akira to suit the palate of Yanks who can't be bothered to read the source material in comic form in order to understand how the original anime movie is a mosaic testament to that original body of work by K.Otomo. How would we like it if instead of simply releasing films like The Godfather, Star Wars, The Dark Knight or Forest Gump; the Japanese simply made their own versions every time? Stars like Tom Hanks, Harrison Ford etc simply replaced by native actors and settings in their own country. All of a sudden you'll realize how much of an ignorance in accepting the art from another culture this "Hollywoodized" trend is! People need to learn to read subtitles, respect other cultures and be more diverse in their appreciation of foreign cinema if we're ever going to progress past the knuckle dragging action-flick society we're currently stuck in! - Say "No" to drugs and while you're at it say "HELL-No!" to Americanized versions of foreign movies!
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BAD BAD IDEA. >> CeejayNightwing you are spot on. It's bizarre and completely arrogant the way hollywood has to "remake" foreign films.
The fact is, to tell the story of Akira, properly, would cost waaaaay too much money anyway. Let alone require a complete visionary team of talent - not some hollywood schmo's who scrape through with B+ at best films. -
There are really only 5 directors I would have thought of to direct an Akira film live action:
1. Chris Cunningham
2. Alfonso Cuaron
3. Paul Verhoeven
4. Martin Scorsese
5. The Hughes Brothers
The Hughes Bros. and Cunningham would have been my top choices as far as young directors go.
I think this could be the project that makes them a household name.
Akira is a PERFECT film (the anime I mean). And it is a HUGE undertaking for them. I think this is going to be amazing if Warners gives them the freedom to do what they want similar to how New Line handled P. Jackson w/ the Rings trilogy. -
The Hugh Brothers??? Hmmmm...I loved Book Of Eli...you know what? I'm going to give this the benefit of the doubt for now. This could be fucking great...I hope they somehow make it different from the Anime though, that way they don't get in each others way.
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Try their hands directing the Next Spiderman, Ghostrider or DareDevil movie. >pp<
I just hope one day, Criterion will get the rights to the director's cut and give FROM HELL a proper dvd release, like they did with the MENACE 2 SOCIETY laser disc. -
Fuck that.
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i will only watch this if it is done with an all white cast with the villain role going to a minority. That's God's way. Because nothing is done better in Hollywood than re-makes. Just look at pulse, one-missed call, shutter, the eye and who wants to fuck a ghost and.....
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Gary Whitta's Book of Eli movie was awesome, they should use the Akira script he had!!
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Whitta's script was different in the anime in that it was a direct adaptation of the manga version which was quite differnt from the movie. The plan was to do it in 2 parts.
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for Akira. Whatever you think about the Wachowski brothers, they are perfect to bring this to the big screen I think.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jafd97yJFOIhttp://tinyurl.com/56or9m
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Player_Two_has_entered_the_game - I had hoped for someone better also, however the Wachowski brothers have forgotten everything that first made them great and would ass fuck this the same way the Hughes Brothers will...
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one more masterpiece,like they did with From Hell.not that it wasnt a good movie,and the best adaptation of Moore's works compared to the other films like lxg,but still it wasnt like the GN.anyway time will tell.
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YAMATO was the first Anime we really got into back in the day. We remember visiting Little Tokyo, in the LA area, and trying to locate anything we could about it. There also was a terrific bookstore in the first level of the New Otami Hotel that had a LOT of great publications. We still have all those books, LPs, and even some cool toys--one in particular, of the starhip, shoots little projectiles that would probably be banned in these "enlightened" times. It's MIB (Mont-in-Box). We will look forward to seeing it when it's released!
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What is the point? Hollywood is a bloated, rotting corpse. Someone should poke it with a stick and let all the hot air out.
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Lord, the nasty things I would do to those two Nova clad hotties.
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Since Yamaoto and Akira are getting chatted up, I thought I'd throw a shout-out to Arrietty. Looks like an anime version of The Littles, taken from The Borrowers. Even if I was in my late teens, I still remember that show fondly. It gave me an intro to the wide world of anime, for which I am grateful!
I will catch it if/when it hits the UK! -
any news on that?
i hope they do it otherwise they are idiots.think about it: a scifi epic opera with a strong love story and message,fucking awesome space battles with transformings robots (or mechs however you call it)and if it uses the 3D CGI technology of Avatar,then it will make everyone forget about SW,ST,TF and Avatar. -
I am almost sure there's a new CGI Yamato movie coming (not to be confused with the new live-action film on the way); but I keep seeing CGI reimaginations of classic Yamato storylines cut like trailers. For example, the trailer on this page shows scenes from the third Yamato season--and they look awesome. I've seen upgraded scenes from Yamato seasons 1 and 2 on trailers recently, too. I decided they must be flashbacks which would be included in the story of the new anime movie (or OVA or whatever it is). But then _this_ trailer seems to end with a box that promotes Yamato Season 3. Or something. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY SOLID IDEA WHASSUP WITH THIS!?
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...shivers...I'm surprised. I love animation and usually have no use for live action adaptations, no matter how faithful or well meaning...But that was cool.
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Jay Leno as jack shit.
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The only way an Akira movie would work is if it cost something as ridiculous as $300m and had themes that would not appeal to the masses. It would never work and no one would put up the money. DiCaprio needs to disassociate his company from this asap.
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performing Kung-Fu crane kicks atop his motorbike.
I thought this project was dead? -
a live acion Akira movie never happens.
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Robotech (and Macross) fans should be hopeful that WB never makes ROBOTECH. I read the Craig Zahler draft, and if all the writers since have been locked into whatever limitations WB put on him, it will be a pale, insulting adaptation. First of all, despite the title, there are no ROBOTS. The Veritechs (Valkyries) arms and legs fold out in a Guardian mode, but that's it. And in a pitiful attempt to give name to the Zentradi, when the giants attack, they shout an alien battle cry- "Zentradi!!!" So, the heroes begin to refer to them as the Zentradi. I guess if we went to another world and attacked its people, we'd shout, "HUMAN!!" as we attacked them. Or we'd all decide on a great battle cry like, "KILL YOU!" and the people would call us "the Killyou". Since Zahler, it's been passed along to writer after writer, including Kasdan, who wrote a 60 pg draft that was too embarrassing to even send out to producers. They simply don't have the rights to do MACROSS justice. And even if they did have the rights to do a faithful adaptation, they wouldn't be able to show it in Japan where MACROSS is still being produced. And obviously, WB is going to want ROBOTECH in Japanese theaters. Pray it dies.
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It's about why he was. In the comic we know his identity in the first half, it's not a mystery. It's an examination.
That's why the movie is no good. Totally missed the point.
And i predict, so will the Akira movie. -
Your point is very well taken. That said, when you brought up the question of how we would like it if Japan made their own versions of Star Wars and the Godfather, I got very excited at the prospect.
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Here's the actual trailer...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONkh786EbSg -
Is like saying bananas suck because of the peel.Its all about the action and space battles for me. And who can tell good acting from bad when you don't speak Japanese...
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Greatest Book, Movie and Soundtrack of all time. I'm all for a liveaction remake, but The Hughes Bros?
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Everything about this trailer just looks right...feels right so far. Toho Co Ltd is dishing out $22 million (a fortune by their standards) to bring a big badass version of STARBLAZERS to the big screen. I. Can't. Fucking. Wait!!!!
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who fought and died so tyranny would not have its way with peace... and yet this film glorifies such tyranny! Fie, I say, fie!
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You mean extraterrestrial?
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I add my voice of distain to a non-Japanese remake of Akira etc. One of the things that makes Japanese anime and manga interesting is the Japanese perspective.
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These two are filmmakers. Genuine Filmmakers. It was strange how many film experts missed the point of the seemingly drawn out scenes in "Eli". And From Hell: the use of sound (one of the best designs I've heard), blowing the dust off the optical printer for the hallucination sequences, and the villain reveal with the black eyes are all impressive. These are a couple of the best visual storytellers working today. They could so some amazing shit with Akira.
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This film needs an all Asian cast.
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certainly a more interesting choice than some no-name guy, but I would agree that Neill Blomkamp would be a pretty awesome choice for this
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The Hughes brothers? Their take on From Hell did not do the brilliant source material any justice so I do not think they should touch the venerable Akira.
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