Akira (Taika Waititi, 2021)

[Never Cursed]

Taika Waititi's followup to Jojo Rabbit will be a live-action adaptation of Akira, will release May of 2021. This was announced a day after Waititi, along with Netflix, left a stop-motion animation movie about Michael Jackson's pet chimp.

[dda1996a]

Do we really need one? And from Waititi? I can't see his colorful sensibility matching that film's darkness.

[Never Cursed]

Even if this movie is terrible (and I have more faith in it and Waititi than that), I'd still much rather it exist than a Bubbles biopic. Besides, the source material is definitely strange enough that Waititi makes sense to me so long as he keeps it grounded.

[dda1996a]

I've only seen Wilderpeople and Ragnarok and both are colorful and have their own sense of humor... Which doesn't seem to fit in with Akira. But it might work I guess, and Waititi is more interesting than someone like Sanders

[DarkImbecile]

I've only seen Wilderpeople and Ragnarok and both are colorful and have their own sense of humor... Which doesn't seem to fit in with Akira.

Isn't more interesting to have someone bring new elements to adapted material than just rote recreation of the previous version?

Of course, it’s easy for me to say this with no connection to the source material, but still...

[pianocrash]

That Bubbles script was top notch, unfortunately. But maybe this will turn out to be more Bartkira than anyone ever planned?

[dda1996a]

I've only seen Wilderpeople and Ragnarok and both are colorful and have their own sense of humor... Which doesn't seem to fit in with Akira.

Isn't more interesting to have someone bring new elements to adapted material than just rote recreation of the previous version?

Of course, it’s easy for me to say this with no connection to the source material, but still...

Yeah which is what I wrote, but I think there is sensibility/outlook and sometimes it plays differently.
I'll try to give a more concrete example. I recently read Dostoyevsky's White Nights, and have seen both Visconti and Gray's versions (still need to see the Bresson). Yet I can see how the story could fit each director's outlook and sensibility, while also.leaving enough space for him to add something unique to the story. I only saw two Waititi films but his sensibility seems odd for such material. But maybe his penchant for outsiders could fit.
Again, I'm interested, and much rather Waititi get the job than some personality hack.

[DarkImbecile]

Waititi will be directing Thor 4 instead, leaving the status of this project uncertain