Leonardo DiCaprio-produced film Akira has now been given an official release date.

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The upcoming Warner Bros. movie – a live-action remake of the 1988 anime classic – will see DiCaprio on producer duties alongside Jennifer Davisson via their production company, Appian Way. Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi is also said to be helming the remake, which is set in 2060 Tokyo.

Today it was announced that Akira will finally come together and arrive in movie theatres May 21, 2021.


According to Deadline, the movie will shoot across 71 days entirely in California. It’s not stated when filming will begin, but after it was announced that the movie would be receiving an $18.5 million tax credit from the California Film Commission’s Film & TV Tax Credit Program 2.0 in April, to receive the credit production must start within 180 days. It was amongst 18 fund allocations for film and TV projects, with Akira bagging the largest sum.

“We are thrilled with the opportunity to shoot ‘Akira’ in California,” said Ravi Mehta, Warner Bros’ executive VP of physical production and finance. “The availability of top-notch crew members, plus the wide variety of location choices and predictable weather are second to none.”

The original Akira manga series was written and illustrated by Katsuhiro Otama and takes place in a dystopian near-future in a city called Neo-Tokyo, which was built after the old Tokyo was destroyed by a psychic attack, and focuses on two teenage bikers, Tetsuo and Kaneda.

Meanwhile, Leonardo DiCaprio has reflected on seeing River Phoenix on the night the actor died in a new interview.

Phoenix died after suffering a drug overdose at infamous Los Angeles club The Viper Room on October 30, 1993. He was 23 years old at the time.


In other news, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood has received critical acclaim after the anticipated Quentin Tarantino movie debuted at Cannes Film Festival.

The ninth studio feature from the cult director is set against the backdrop of ’60s Hollywood and stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth and Rick Dalton, two stars who are forced to deal with the fickle nature of fame as the decade comes to an end.