The most exciting aspect of Taika Waititi’s long-gestating live-actionAkiraadaptation is that it will be nothing like the 1988 movie it’s based on. Hollywood’sAkiramovie remains among the most infamous examples of a project stuck in development hell. Katsuhiro Otomo’s seminal manga debuted in 1982, and the feature-length anime that followed six years later propelledAkirato iconic status across the world. Naturally,Akirabecame one of the very first Japanese anime and manga properties to catch the attention of western movie studios, and reports of adaptation plans first emerged in the 1990s.
Over the decades, various iterations of possiblelive-actionAkiramovie projectshave come and gone, with directors such as Ruairí Robinson and Jaume Collet-Serra attached at different times. According to the most recent updates, Taika Waititi is currently in the frame to reawakenAkirafrom its slumber - but not any time soon. Updates have been sparse in the 2020s, with no outward sign ofAkiraentering any kind of active development. Fortunately, hope is not lost. A2023Akiraupdateclaimedit would be one ofTaika Waititi’s next movies, thenWaititi himself alluded towardAkirawhen mentioning unrealized projects that “bubbled back up” during a late 2024 interview.
Taika Waititi’s Akira Movie Would Adapt The Original Manga, Not The Anime Movie
Taika Waititi’sAkiramovieis especially exciting because of a comment the filmmaker made back in 2017 when his involvement first became public.Waititi confirmed to Screen Rantthat conversations concerning an adaptation were starting, but also revealed his desire to cover Otomo’s manga, not the 1988 anime movie, stating, “I don’t believe the world needs a remake of the anime… I would really just want to look at an adaptation of the books in a new way.”
Waititi’s promise to adapt the manga over the anime can let his live-actionAkiraenjoy the best of both worlds.
After going unmade for so long, excitement for a live-actionAkiramovie may be understandably tempered in 2025, butWaititi’s vision is a reinvigorating reminder of why Warner Bros. has kept plugging away atAkirawithout giving up. Any director who opted to translate the 1988movie into a modern live-action medium would be setting themselves up for disappointment. The original anime film is a timeless classic beloved by multiple generations of fans and mimicked by a host of subsequent animators inspired by Otomo’s work.
Akira’s Perfect Live-Action Adaptation Already Happened And Had Little To Do With The Anime Movie
A live-action adaptation of Akira has been in development hell for years, but a perfect live-action Akira movie already happened over a decade ago.
While there would be a degree of intrigue in seeing Kaneda and Tetsuo skid futuristic motorbikes around a live-action setting, that wouldn’t be enough for the remake to be considered a worthy successor to the first movie. At the same time,live-action anime adaptationsthat veer too far from their source material have a tendency to fail spectacularly, withDragonball EvolutionandDeath Notetwo prime examples. Waititi’s promise to adapt the manga over the anime can let his live-actionAkiraenjoy the best of both worlds: a fresh perspective that remains faithful and authentic.
The Akira Manga Is Very Different Compared To The Anime Movie
The Two Versions Of Akira Are Almost Unrecognizable
Anime adaptations of manga series are often quite faithful, animating the comic books either exactly or with superficial tweaks. When it comes toAkira, watching the anime movie and reading the manga are two totally different experiences.Katsuhiro Otomo’s printed story is a six-volume behemothtold over 120 chapters, whereas the two-hour anime offers a condensed version of broadly the same premise. Consequently, 1988’sAkiraexcises massive chunks of its source material - everything from major manga characters to entire subplots.
Waititi’s live-action adaptation will be something movie fans have not yet witnessed.
Among the manydifferences betweenAkira’s manga and anime, Lady Miyako is a central figure in the original story, but has an almost negligible presence in the anime. The same could be said of Akira himself, who gets far more to do in the former.TheAkiramanga is, overall, more of a slow-burncompared to the frenetic, futuristic anime. One version isn’t necessarily better than the other, butAkira’s manga is tonally and narratively separate from its namesake, offering a much richer, more detailed, larger-scale web of conspiracy, drama, and post-apocalyptic intrigue for audiences to invest in.
Akirais set in 2019, which would have been a perfect release date.
When Taika Waititi says he wants to adaptAkira’s manga rather than the anime, therefore, he doesn’t mean dropping a few scenes here and there. If it happens, Waititi’s live-action adaptation will be something movie fans have not yet witnessed on the big screen.
The Problem With Adapting The Akira Manga Into A Live-Action Movie
Waititi’s Vision Won’t Be Easy To Realize
While Taika Waititi’s ambitious idea to adapt theAkiramanga is undoubtedly exciting, one must question whether his intention is actually viable. There is, after all, a good reason why Katsuhiro Otomo changed his story so drastically when writing the 1988 anime movie. TurningAkira’s manga into one movie would be impossible. Even cramming all six volumes into a two-part movie feels unrealistic when each of those volumes could comfortably sustain its own feature-length release.
The 1988Akiramovie was written and directed by original manga author Katsuhiro Otomo.
In an ideal world, Warner Bros. would commit to a fullAkiratrilogy, compromising at two manga volumes per movie. Given how difficult making one movie has proven, not to mention the heady expense of bringing Neo-Tokyo into live-action, such generosity is unlikely. Unless Waititi is given the room to doAkira’s manga justice across multiple movies, however, adapting the original story instead of the 1988 anime might simply be a dream too far for even the most optimistic director.
Akira
A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath who can only be stopped by a teenager, his gang of biker friends and a group of psychics.
