Tetsuo and Kaneeeeedaaaaaaaaaaaaaa are coming to theaters Memorial Day 2021. Image : Toho

Warner Bros. has just slotted Akira, directed by Taika Waititi, for release on May 21, 2021. That sentence sounds like an April Fool’ s joke to anyone who’s been following the decade-plus of almost-attempts to bring Katsuhiro Otomo’s iconic 1982 manga- turned- legendary 1988 anime back to the big screen. But, for now, this is the plan.


Rumors linking Waititi to t he cyberpunk, post-apocalyptic story began back in 2017, right before the release of his most recent film, Thor: Ragnarok. At that time, io9 talked to him about the project, and while nothing was set in stone yet, you could tell he was very passionate:

My mom took me to see Akira in the cinema in 1989, or whenever it came out in New Zealand, and it was a huge turning point in my life for what I imagined animation to be and realizing what it could be. It’s stuck with me this whole time and I feel, visually, the film was such an amazing thing. So I read the [comic] books and I was always more curious as to what a broader adaptation of the books might look like instead of a remake of the film, which doesn’t need to be remade. But I do feel there could be a cool live-action adaptation of the books.


If that plan still stands, going back to the original manga and not the 1988 film is certainly a good thing. There’s so much more to mine from there, beyond what made it into the movie.

So, for now, Akira will be released on May 21, 2021 . Next up for the busy Waititi, besides casting and filming this project , is the season finale of FX’s What We Do in the Shadows; feature film JoJo Rabbit, out October 18; and an episode of The Mandalorian, which begins to roll out in November.

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