The live-action Akira movie has been in different stages of development for more than two decades, which shows just how difficult adapting Akira is. The 1988 Akira anime movie was based on Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira manga and is widely considered one of the best-animated movies ever made. Akira was one of the first anime properties to become a worldwide phenomenon, paving the way for series such as Dragon Ball or Pokémon to become global IPs a few years later. However, despite Akira’s global impact, a live-action Akira film never happened. That said, many were attempts of telling Tetsuo and Kaneda’s story through a Hollywood live-action film.

Plans for a live-action Akira movie trace back to the late 1990s’ when Sony acquired the rights to the Akira manga eyeing a live-action adaptation that never came to be. The rights to remake the Akira movie as a live-action motion picture were acquired by Warner Bros. in 2002 and have belonged to the company ever since. Warner's Akira movie has taken many forms and had several creators attached to it, yet it never happened. The list of directors who were once attached to or reportedly offered the live-action Akira movie includes Stephen Norrington, Jaume Collet-Serra, George Miller, and Jordan Peele. Currently, Taika Waititi is set to direct Akira.

10 Adapting Akira Properly Would Require A Massive Budget

Any Akira adaptation would require a massive budget to accurately recreate the world of New Tokyo as well as the scope and the scale of the story. While Akira is more than just its visuals, what made the Akira film arguably better than the manga was just how good it looked. Whereas some popular anime properties such as Cowboy Bebop or Death Note can work in a more self-contained world, any Akira adaptation needs to feel as big as the original movie. This includes not only the dystopian urban backdrop but also costumes, vehicles, and weapons. That is not to mention the visual effects necessary to portray Akira’s story.

9 Akira's Battles & Visuals Are Almost Too Wild For Live-Action

Despite its heavy story, Akira is an action-packed movie. From a regular motorbike chase at the beginning of the film to a visually complex, horror-like battle in the end, Akira is a rollercoaster of action scenes. Akira’s battles, especially the ones toward the end, cannot be compared to anything a live-action movie has so far done. The Akira anime made the most of its medium to portray Tetsuo’s powers, resulting in scenes that can only really work in animation. As such, the live-action Akira movie would have to find an equally inspired way to portray those moments without losing the essence of what the original film was trying to do.

8 Akira Deals With Difficult & Mature Themes

Akira is a visual spectacle, but what makes the movie so special is the themes it deals with as well as how it deals with them. Akira was first published in 1982, and the idea that a New Tokyo had replaced the original Tokyo following a singularity that destroyed the city was part of a post-World War II Japan context. The text and the subtext behind Akira are a product of its time and might not work if told from a different point of view. An American live-action Akira adaptation would have to be very sensible and focus on the story first rather than the visuals.

7 No One Wants A Diluted Live-Action Akira Movie

A diluted Akira movie – something that would keep some aspects of the story while adding and removing things – would not be worth it. The best possible Akira adaptation would properly translate the entirety of the story, simply because Akira is a self-contained narrative with a clear beginning, middle, and end. There have been several live-action anime adaptations that drastically changed the setting or the rules of the story it was adapting. Dragonball Evolution, for example, little resembled Dragon Ball. Netflix’s Death Note, despite remaining truthful to the clash between Light and L, vastly changed the pacing of the story. A good live-action Akira adaptation has to avoid those mistakes.

6 Other Live-Action Anime Movies Haven't Worked

From classic anime series such as Dragon Ball Z to iconic anime movies such as Ghost in the Shell, many Japanese anime properties have received a Hollywood live-action adaptation. However, the vast majority of those Hollywood live-action anime adaptations did not work. Compared to Death Note or Cowboy Bebop, two recent famous anime that received flawed live-action adaptations, Akira is arguably much more difficult to work in a different medium. Ghost in the Shell, which is often listed alongside Akira as some of the most influential animated films of all time, proved how difficult it is to make a live-action movie out of those classics.

5 Akira's Protagonists Aren't Stereotypical Anime Heroes

Akira is not a simple story of heroes trying to defeat villains, nor is it a story about good against evil. Tetsuo, who becomes the final obstacle for Kaneda to overcome, is not necessarily a villain for most of the movie. Tetsuo’s story is a tragic one, and there are a lot of nuances that have to be properly adapted for the character to make sense. Likewise, while Akira is mostly told through Kaneda’s point of view, he is far from being the classic Shonen hero. Other Akira characters are also complex in their own right, and each of them is essential for the story to work.

4 Making Akira Would Take Any Director A Long Time

Many filmmakers have been attached to the live-action Akira movie, with the latest being Taika Waititi. The fact that more than 20 years have ed without the mythical live-action Akira film entering production shows how complicated helming this project can be. Even with the right script, making Akira would take any director a lot of time, from pre-production to visual effects. An accurate Akira adaptation would be on the scale of blockbuster films, even though the spectacle is not the most important thing about Akira. If Waititi’s Akira movie moves forward, the director will have to dedicate a few years of his career to the project.

3 Akira Is Not Supposed To Be A Franchise

It cannot be denied how “franchise potential” is an element taken into consideration during the making of any big-budget movie. From a financial standpoint, investing millions in a film that can lead to a sequel makes more sense than crafting a self-contained movie that will not lead anywhere. Unlike the Ghost in the Shell universe, which has received multiple sequels, prequels, and spinoffs told across different media, the Akira movie stands on its own. There is no Akira 2, and any attempts of creating a movie franchise out of Akira would be a mistake. This might be one of the reasons why the live-action Akira movie never happened.

2 Akira Is Already A Perfect Movie

There is a huge difference between retelling the story of a manga in the form of a live-action production and remaking an animated film as a live-action property. It must be noticed that the live-action Akira movie would be an official remake of the Akira anime film, which by itself poses a major challenge. Akira is already a perfect movie, meaning that it would be very difficult for a live-action adaptation to tell that story in a better way. Disney’s live-action remakes of classic animated films have been facing a similar challenge, leading to wider discussions on animated movies’ role in the industry.

1 A Live-Action Akira Adaption Would Risk Missing The Point Of The Story

It can be easy for an Akira adaptation to focus on the sci-fi aspect of it, which is indeed very interesting. The futuristic, post-apocalyptic aesthetic can make for a visually stunning movie in the style of movies like Blade Runner. Likewise, a live-action Akira film could have some great action scenes, from the more grounded motorbike sequences to the absurdity of the final battle between Tetsuo and Kaneda. However, none of those things should be the focus of the live-action Akira movie. The best Akira adaptation would not necessarily make for a box office titan, which is why is so difficult to find the perfect balance for a live-action Akira film.