Keanu Reeves ("The Matrix") is reportedly in talks to star in the upcoming live-action adaptation of the famed anime film "Akira."
According to The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision Blog, Reeves's reps are talking to Warner Bros. about the actor taking on the role of Kaneda, the leader of a motorcycle gang who tries to save his friend Tetsuo from a military experiment gone awry.
In March, it was reported director Albert Hughes had shortlisted the candidates for Kaneda to Garrett Hedlund, Michael Fassbender, Chris Pine, Justin Timberlake and Joaquin Phoenix, while Robert Pattinson, Andrew Garfield and James McAvoy were in the running for Tetsuo.
The 1988 film directed by Katsuhiro Otomo was based on the six-volume manga from Katsuhiro Otom.
The live-action film moves the action from Neo-Tokyo to New Manhattan. "Harry Potter" scribe Steve Kloves was the last writer to take a swipe at the script.
Reeves was once attached to the live-action adaptation of another anime, "Cowboy Bebop," but that project has been silent since last summer. His interest here could mean the "Bebop" film is dead, or at least he is no longer connected, since I don't seem him heading up to big-named anime projects.
As for "Akira," this news will most assuredly rekindle the online angst about the project, especially over the so-called white-washing of the cast. As I said before, I consider this more of an Americanization or domestic-remake than a true adaptation. How many Japanese horror films have Hollywood done this to and nobody plays the race card? That's not to mention all of the European films which get remade. It's just how Hollywood rolls. It doesn't make them racist. Let's get some perspective folks.
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| Keanu Reeves |
According to The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision Blog, Reeves's reps are talking to Warner Bros. about the actor taking on the role of Kaneda, the leader of a motorcycle gang who tries to save his friend Tetsuo from a military experiment gone awry.
In March, it was reported director Albert Hughes had shortlisted the candidates for Kaneda to Garrett Hedlund, Michael Fassbender, Chris Pine, Justin Timberlake and Joaquin Phoenix, while Robert Pattinson, Andrew Garfield and James McAvoy were in the running for Tetsuo.
The 1988 film directed by Katsuhiro Otomo was based on the six-volume manga from Katsuhiro Otom.
The live-action film moves the action from Neo-Tokyo to New Manhattan. "Harry Potter" scribe Steve Kloves was the last writer to take a swipe at the script.Reeves was once attached to the live-action adaptation of another anime, "Cowboy Bebop," but that project has been silent since last summer. His interest here could mean the "Bebop" film is dead, or at least he is no longer connected, since I don't seem him heading up to big-named anime projects.
As for "Akira," this news will most assuredly rekindle the online angst about the project, especially over the so-called white-washing of the cast. As I said before, I consider this more of an Americanization or domestic-remake than a true adaptation. How many Japanese horror films have Hollywood done this to and nobody plays the race card? That's not to mention all of the European films which get remade. It's just how Hollywood rolls. It doesn't make them racist. Let's get some perspective folks.
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