Warner Bros. live action adaptation of Akira is not dead yet, just on life support it seems. And we now know the two actors that were competing to play fan favorite character Tetsuo: Chronicle's Dane DeHann and Boardwalk Empire's Michael Pitt..
I’m told that along with Warner Bros closing the Vancouver production office, the studio let lapse the test options deals it had with Dane DeHaan and Michael Pitt. Both actors had been competing for the lead role of Tetsuo, to star alongside Garrett Hedlund, Kristin Stewart, and potentially Ken Watanabe and Helena Bonham Carter.
Although Deadline confirm that the project is indeed in on hold, they also say that it is very much alive and could well rise from the ashes at some point. If it does, it's possible that DeHann and Pitt will still be in line to play Tetsuo. Interestingly the site also claims that the problems plaguing
Akira are not financial but creative. Apparently budgetary concerns are not the issue - WB wanted further changes made to the script, and will now look to yet another writer (David James Kelly handled the most recent alterations) to polish things up. As an add on, word is that WB are "scrutinizing everything", with the futures of
Arthur And Lancelot and
Xerxes also uncertain.
About The Author:
Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.