Ask John: Why is Warner Bros. So Adamant About Akira?

Question:
Why do you think Warner is so obssessed with doing an Akira movie to the point that they’re pretty much willing to hire anyone (who’s not Asian) for the job? Their DC label doesn’t own the original manga, and they don’t have the home video rights to the movie. Is this like the upcoming Superman movie, in that, if it doesn’t happen soon, they allegedly lose the rights to the property? Is it a pathetic attempt to make up for the Speed Racer and/or Green Lantern films? Or are they so desperate for a successor to the Harry Potter and/or Nolan Batman films that they’re just greenlighting anything similar in tone to those franchises? Or, could it be WB’s execs are afraid a rival studio already has the rights to another well-known anime-manga property, and if they don’t get Akira off the ground first, it will look like an also-ran by comparison?

Answer:
Coming strictly from the perspective of a Hollywood observer – an amateur outsider – I’m far from convinced that Warner Bros. is actually adamantly determined to produce its live-action Akira movie. After all, it was Warner Bros. that shut down the film’s pre-vizualization department and laid off much of the film’s pre-production staff last May, a week before director Albert Hughes resigned from the production. However, at least someone at Warner Bros., if not multiple people, seem to be conscious of anime and manga. Warner Bros. distributed Village Roadshow & Silver Pictures’ Speed Racer movie, is sitting on the domestic adaptation rights to Jubei Ninpucho, is tentatively developing an American Death Note movie, and in mid-2010 was reported to be negotiating for film adaptation rights to Bleach. Although 20th Century Fox has released a domestic Dragonball movie and is tentatively developing a Cowboy Bebop picture, Warner is clearly Hollywood’s most aggressive studio proponent of manga and anime franchises for American adaptation.

The reasons behind Warner’s aggressive pursuit of manga adaptation rights, though, seems opaque. The Harry Potter film franchise is now complete, and the Nolan Batman trilogy is presently wrapping up. Despite being developed as a tentpole franchise, Green Lantern underwhelmed. Warner may indeed be looking for a new franchise. After all, Warner has publicly described its tentative Akira project as a “$90 million tentpole franchise.” Particularly with rumors of Tron Legacy star Garrett Hedlund envisioned in the lead role, parallels between setting up Akira as a mirror of the Tron franchise are distinct and inescapable. Tron and Akira both occur in dystopic cyberpunk environments and star young, rebellious boys. The motorcycles in both franchises have become iconically representative. While Tron Legacy isn’t widely immediately recognized as a blockbuster hit, it did earn a profit in domestic release and has earned over $400 million worldwide on an estimated $170 million budget. If Warner does plan to produce its Akira movie for roughly half the cost of Tron Legacy, the investment is much smaller and easier to greenlight for a roughly equal probability of generating profit.

However, even at a relatively manageable projected production cost, Warner may still be tentative about actually producing an Akira movie. Despite having numerous licenses, Warner has not yet actually begun shooting an Akira, Bleach, Cowboy Bebop, or Death Note movie. Akira is just as much a risk as an opportunity. Akira is a subtly highly Japanese narrative, which may make its transition to an American film problematic. Akira’s post-apocalyptic setting is particularly relevant to post-atomic bombing Japan. The concept of mutation caused by unharnessed technology is just as applicable to Akira as to Japan’s iconic Godzilla. America does not have a parallel narrative theme. The X-Men were not created by cultural or governmental irresponsibility. The Incredible Hulk and Dr. Manhattan were created by individual accidents, not national catastrophe. So Americans don’t relate to or understand the origins of Akira’s psychic children the way Japanese viewers do. Akira’s subdued but significant conflict between low-tech primacy and high-tech advancement is particularly relevant to Japanese society but not particularly to American society. Seeming acknowledging this very fact, the Neo-Tokyo setting of the original story has already been altered for the tentative American film. Furthermore, big budget sci-fi films and franchises are seemingly a risky investment in Hollywood these days. Despite Halo being one of America’s most popular, profitable, and recognized contemporary entertainment franchises, both 20th Century Fox and Universal backed away from the planned film adaptation. Actor Keanu Reeves has publicly stated that the delays in getting a Cowboy Bebop film into production are related to studios being hesitant to invest in the production. These days, big science-fiction films are considered a very risky production. In fact, the only non-sequel blockbuster sci-fi film to come out of Hollywood in recent years has been James Cameron’s Avatar. While that film could rely on the reputation and reliability of its creator/director, the tentative Akira movie doesn’t have a cast or director attached that will guarantee success.

The public has heard a lot about the Akira film project because the project has been surrounded by a lot of anxiety, speculation, and bad news. Akira is one of America’s most beloved manga/anime franchises, and it’s been established in America long enough to have developed some nostalgic and traditional respect. It’s a revered title, which arouses insistence for respectful treatment. As much of the public knowledge and discussion of the Akira movie has been negative or about setbacks to the production as word of Warner pressing forward on the project. So the assertion that Warner is aggressively advancing the production or Warner is determined to make the film seems as much, if not more, like media spin and overzealous interpretation as actual fact. The American Akira movie does seem to have a greater probability of actually getting made than the American Lupin III, Starblazers, Robotech, Cowboy Bebop, Ninja Scroll, Evangelion, Golgo 13, Battle Angel, Mai the Psychic Girl, Gigantor, or Voltron movies, but I’m not convinced that Warner Bros., nor any other major Hollywood studio, is excitedly eager to launch American film adaptations of Japanese properties. I see studios like Warner Bros. much more agreeable to allowing smaller studios like Davis Film, Appian Way, and WhiteLight Entertainment, or individual producers including Leonardo DiCaprio, Tim Burton, and Bryan Barber to independently set-up and produce manga adaptations then just engage the big studios for distribution.