Is the "Akira" live action movie under risk of Hollywood whitewashing?
Warner Bros. acquired the rights to "Akira" in 2002, with plans of releasing a live action version of the Japanse cult anime classic. Since then, several Hollywood A-listers including Leonardo DiCaprio and Gary Oldman have been previously attached to the film.
The closest it came into production was in 2012, when director Jaume Collet-Serra, whose resume includes "Non-Stop" and "Run All Night," started negotiations with Garett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Ken Watanabe and Helena Bonham-Carter.
The "Akira" live action movie recently took a major step forward when it was announced that Daredevil season 2 showrunner Marco Ramirez was on writing the script. Shortly after, it was rumored that "The Dark Knight Rises" director Christopher Nolas was also involved in some capacity.
However, many still think that the adaptation could be a complete failure given the track record of Americanized versions of Asian franchises.
"Star Trek" actor George Takei has weighed in on the issue of Hollywood whitewashing.
"It's an old Hollywood tradition that we've always been battling, not just Hollywood but Broadway too. So, no, I reallly wasn't surprised, but the audience has changed now, and I'm surprised Warner Bros. is not keeping up with the audience," Takei said in a statement published by Movie Pilot.
"The same thing happened with M. Night Shyamalan," he added. "He cast his project [The Last Airbender] with non-Asians and it's an Asian story, and the film flopped. I think that they would learn from that."
Meanwhile, another Japanese anime classic, "Ghost In The Shell," is getting a big screen adaptation from Dreamworks. The adaptation was met with backlash from fans when it was announced that "Avengers: Age of Ultron" actress Scarlett Johannson was cast as the movie's lead.
The "Akira" live action movie is still in development. According to Deadline, "Ghost In The Shell" will release on March 31, 2017.
