Warner Bros. has officially announced that it is relinquishing the rights to the live-action adaptation of Akira. As early as 2019, there were reports that Warner Bros. planned to produce this live-action film, with Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way Productions set to produce and Taika Waititi directing. Fast forward to today, according to exclusive news from Hollywood Report, Warner Bros. has returned the rights to the Japanese manga publisher Kodansha.
As early as 2002, Warner Bros. secured the rights to the remake of AKIRA. Initially, it was planned to be directed by Stephen Norrington, with Jon Peters producing. However, over the following two decades, Warner Bros. invested millions—eventually reaching tens of millions—into the project, yet ultimately, it never came to fruition. As time passed, Legendary began to co-finance the film, and with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson joining the production team, the remake project finally gained new momentum.
In 2017, Taika Waititi confirmed his involvement in the project, helping to write the script and direct, which propelled the remake plan forward. The film successfully secured a tax credit in California and was initially set to release on May 21, 2021. At that time, the production team had established a casting office in Japan aimed at finding actors from across the country. However, due to Waititi’s commitments to multiple films and series, the shooting schedule kept changing, ultimately preventing him from rejoining the production of AKIRA, causing the project to further stall.
Now, Warner Bros. has decided to return the rights to Kodansha, which opens up new opportunities for other film companies to fight for the live-action adaptation rights of AKIRA. This could spark a new wave of rights battles, leaving us eagerly awaiting updates on the developments.
