Akira has been “marked safe” from a live-action Taika Waititi redux. The legendary and amazing anime will not be made into a live-action film by the Thor director. Warner Bros. had secured rights to produce a live-action film back in 2002, with it falling quite often into “development hell.” Several directors were attached, but it never left the development stages.

What’s Akira About?

Created by manga artist Katsuhiro Ôtomo, Akira is regarded as one of the finest and most significant anime films. It’s set against the backdrop of futuristic Neo-Tokyo. Years ago, Tokyo was changed into a dystopian post-apocalyptic city after a large explosion. Cyberpunk themes are often seen in this manga.

Akira follows the story of motorcycle gang leader Kaneda and his friend (and fellow gang member) Tetsuo. Tetsuo has an accident and ends up gaining super psychokinetic abilities and an altered consciousness. His powers soon become stronger, and he is unable to control them.

Kaneda, on a mission to help his best friend Tetsuo, joins forces with the resistance movement. He, along with a woman he meets, Kei, discovers the government’s evil agenda. The resistance must help Tetsuo before he and his powers are used to destroy Neo-Tokyo.

Akira Live Action Film in Development Hell

The live-action Akira concept was getting tossed between being in limbo and receiving a little attention. Or potentially an iteration of live action where, well, let’s just say that it would not be given the proper respect. Warner Bros. had acquired film rights to do the live-action version over 20 years ago. That Akira concept went through multiple directors (including George Miller) with many different writing teams, with each one never materializing.

It seems as though every few years, there was an attempt to create the film. One of the main issues that was encountered was the whitewashing of the film and its characters. To make the movie appeal to American audiences, the idea had been floated to change the setting from Tokyo to New York, specifically Manhattan. Using the September 11th attack as a plot point was considered, but that was later scrapped.

Another major plot change to the film was making the two main characters brothers. Kaneda and Tetsuo were friends, and their bond resulted from shared experiences growing up. While it could have been feasible to change them to brothers, it still would not pay tribute to the original story by Katsuhiro Ôtomo.

Why Akira’s Legacy is Important

As mentioned before, Akira is one of the greatest animated works of all time. It deals with issues such as lawlessness and political corruption, government control, social isolation, mental illness, and AI. It also explores the power of friendship and the connection two people can share through harrowing challenges.

Akira has influenced countless films to include Blade Runner, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Ghost in the Shell, and even District 9. It’s extraordinarily difficult to transform anime into live action. The live-action film was topping eight figures in conversion from its anime origin.

Per Deadline:

Here’s the thing: turning anime into live action movies or even a TV series is hard… Paramount turned 1995’s ‘Ghost in the Shell’ into a $110M big screen take starring Scarlett Johansson. The movie tanked grossing just over $40M and under $170M worldwide, rejected by fans for whitewashing the original. The result served as a harbinger to motion picture studios to avoid anime big screen adaptation.

Akira’s Film Rights Revert to Kodansha

In June 2025, Warner Bros. ended its film rights to Akira. The rights lapsed and returned to the Japanese publishing company Kodansha. Headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Kodansha publishes books, manga, and literary magazines, as well as music. Founded in 1909, it’s been in the same family since its inception, descending from publisher Seiji Noma.

Loyal fans of Akira are hopeful that its return to Kodansha will be a reset of sorts. Anime enthusiasts do not want to see their treasured Akira diluted by a hasty and thoughtless interpretation. At the very least, this could be a fresh start to the next chapter in this saga.