Taika Waititi’s Live-Action ‘Akira’ Movie Sets 2021 Release Date

Taika Waititi’s Akira currently has a release date. The adaptation of the classic manga will open May 21, 2021, Warner Bros. declared Friday. Akira is set to open inverse Lionsgate’s John Wick: Chapter 4. Prior this week, Warner Bros. moved its animated movie DC Super Pets off of the end of the week, pushing it back a year to 2022.

Akira started life as a manga in 1982, with writer-artist Katsuhiro Otomo’s cyberpunk series going through 1990. Otomo adapted the property as an anime feature in 1988. Set in postapocalyptic Tokyo, the original story revolves around a teen, Tetsuo, who finds he has powerful telekinetic abilities that threaten the world. When an individual from a biker gang, the only individual who is by all accounts ready to stop the all-powerful and risky teen is his childhood companion and gang leader, Kaneda. The 1988 film is a popular culture staple and brought anime to an a lot more audience in the U.S. Akira has been referenced in various TV shows and movies, including South Park.

A live-action Akira has for quite some time been talked about in Hollywood. In 2012, a version that would have featured Garrett Hedlund was retired, with different producers coming and going on the project that would have been an Americanized version of the story. Taika Waititi is relied upon to go a progressively authentic route, expressing in 2017 that he would want to cast Asian actors in the roles.

Taika Waititi has the dark comedy Jojo Rabbit due out Oct. 18. He is likewise among the directors who have helmed episodes for the Star Wars streaming series The Mandalorian, which makes a big appearance in November.

Leonardo DiCaprio is producing Akira however his Appian Way alongside Andrew Lazar.