Zac Efron in Akira? We’re not surprised. Ever since Albert Hughes came on as director for the live-action adaptation of Akira, rumors of the studio demanding a more family friendly, PG-13 movie have followed. So why not cast Efron too?
Whoa whoa whoa! A family friendly Akira? That’s not Akira at all then…
Yeah, I don’t know what movie someone is making if they are basing it on Akira and winding up with a PG-13 flim. Boo.
I’m not necessarily Boo-ing it. Their movie could be ok. Or, it could be Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, or G-Savior (the llive action Gundam movie)
I’ve tried coming up with a proper analogy, but keep failing. Like a rated R Star Wars (could argue it’s been done), or a PG Nightmare on Elm Street (but horror films are rarely PG-13 or PG). Same can be said for a PG-13 Matrix, but the Matrix idea has been borrowed in so many movies and series now that that’s not a valid argument either.
So, a PG-13 Akira movie could be made. I’m just against the idea of calling it Akira.
Would be like calling Zegapain a family friendly Matrix.
Having non-Japanese actors play the lead parts and moving it from Neo-Tokyo to Neo-New York (that just doesn’t roll of the tongue) is a separate and equally valid debate imo.
Tokyo is a major character of Akira, so yeah, I’d have a problem with that, too.
I don’t disagree that you COULD do a PG-13 Akira. I just don’t know if it would be in the spirit of such a fearless piece of work.
So true about Neo Tokyo.
Heh. I guess it could be said that we question the “wisdom” of such a project. d: (Bad reference, I know…)
To be fair, James Cameron plans on doing a live action or CGI version of Battle Angel Alita. But given his previous works, I’m really looking forward to seeing that project. If Cameron had said he wanted to remake Akira, I think many of us would cut him some slack. But, I doubt he’d ever say he’d want to make a kid friendly version.
I’m not too familiar with Albert Hughes and this could be his first foray into such a project. And, that’s part of my misgivings. That and casting Efron…
Ugh! Battle Angel is slated for a 2013 release…
On another forum, someone said that Zac Efron was our A-Bomb response to Japan’s tentacle porn Pearl Harbor.
Makes you think.
Beiber would be the A-Bomb.
What the frak am I saying? That Pearl Harbor reference is wrong on so many levels…
[sigh] Yes I heard this earlier as well. I’m going to bring it up on the cast as well next week.
I have bigger concerns about moving it from neo-tokyo to New York than Efron. At least he’s an ok actor but as you guys have said it’s such a big part of the film that to move it and strip the Japanese culture from it seems a rather harsh blow.
If Efron gets Shotaro who gets Tetsuo I wonder?
I won’t pass judgement on something that hasn’t even started shooting yet but I wonder if it will be more “loosely based” on Akira or something by the time it’s done and just bear the name and some of the characters.
Though I do wish they’d leave the location alone, it’s part of what makes the story beautiful.
Zac Branff?
I know that sometimes actors have surprised us before. I see Zac Efron as Charlie St. Cloud High School Musical Disney Guy, but no one thought Heath Ledger could do The Joker before he defined it for a generation.
I was like, “Interesting choice.” And, RDJ for Iron Man, I was like, “That could work…”
Hollywood has a long history white washing (I cannot come up with a better word, sorry) culture from remakes. Like Alec Guiness portraying a Japanese man in a black and white movie and whatnot. I thought we’ve moved passed that era. Maybe it’s hypocritical of me to have little problem with Samuel Jackson portraying Nick Fury. Though, I did raise my eyebrows at that decision too.
I just feel strongly that Akira cast should remain Japanese and in Neo Tokyo. We can stand to learn or see cultures and people outside ourselves.
Japanimation (and I dislike that word too) has made a strong enough impact on our culture that audiences shouldn’t care that the main characters aren’t White or base near or in their country.
But, I guess movie execs want to maximize their gains and cater to the most common denominator… sigh
Bingo.
That’ll change soon, I think. Not that they won’t maximize their profits, but the overseas market is becoming increasingly important. When the dollars lost to whites who won’t watch a film with an asian cast is superceded by the dollars lost to asians who won’t do the reverse, you’ll see change.
Interesting point with Nick Fury. I’ll have to think on that.
Well it’s interesting you say that, Jet Li and I think Jackie Chan have had problems with some of their films due to the asian market not liking their american films and vice versa. So it has been going on for a while.
Look at the latest argument with M.Night and Avatar.
Yeah, there are factors other than casting that make a movie a “Hollywood Movie,” certainly. It’s the same with Hong Kong and Bollywood.
I can redeem myself a bit by truthfully saying Samuel Jackson is a mega star. If someone with similar stature wants to act in Akira (Tom Cruise, George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, etc.), I’d have way less problems.
I dunno Efron and Branff. To me, they don’t have that stature. So, I have issues.
Actually, Avatar (Cameron’s not M.Night) was making so much money in the Asian market, the Asian execs wanted to restrict how many theaters could show Avatar. They knew they couldn’t match the spectacle and didn’t want to lose or risk money trying, among other reasons.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/01/why-did-china-kill-avatar/33817/
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/world/asia/20china.html
and
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/19/china-pulls-2d-avatar-fro_n_428798.html
For last Air Bender, while I haven’t seen it yet, I’ve heard the actors weren’t that great. Had they been better, who knows?
I’ve also heard Jackie Chan complaining about different markets as well. And, it’s unfortunate that we’re still like that.
I meant the The last airbender one :)…sorry forgot about the cameron avatar one 
Why can’t they just make a film that is it’s own story and not call it Akira??
Why do studios have to take brand names and twist them all to hell just to make some money?
This is something that started after the writers strike and it’s getting worse.
STOP IT!! You wanna make a post apocalypitc film with Zac then go for it, but don’t just grab the Akira name and then proced to twist the shit to hell.
Same deal with Starship Troopers and I Robot. They can get the rights cheap, it’s not going to alienate the target audience, and it will get the geeks in to see if/how badly they mucked it up.