Rumor: Warner Bros Reviving 'Akira' As A Trilogy, Christopher Nolan Could Be Involved

Like a grizzled old sea captain chasing a white whale, Warner Bros. are still doggedly pursuing the idea of a live-action remake of classic anime “Akira.” The 1988 original film, based on a manga, is seen as one of the absolute classics of the form, and the studio have been actively developing a remake since 2002, with Ruairi Robinson and Albert Hughes among the directors involved.

It got very close to production back in 2011, with “Non Stop” helmer Jaume Collet-Serra directing, a script by “Harry Potter” writer Steve Kloves, and Garret Hedlund, Ken Watanabe, Kristen Stewart and Helena Bonham Carter among the actors. But the movie fell apart, with a cautious Warners shutting down production at the beginning of 2012 (followed swiftly by public criticism of the approach from Toby Kebbell, one of the actors in the running for the film), before Collet-Serra was re-hired, and re-fired, more recently.

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