The Live Action AKIRA Isn't Dead After All

It aint dead yet.

The (failed) progress of a Hollywood adaptation of Otomo Katsuhiro's manga and subsequent anime feature Akira has been well documented over the years and its many fits and starts and now it appears to be back under way.

We last had word of the film back in early January, 2012 when - with pre-production well under way and Jaume Collet-Sera in the director's chair - Warner Brothers pulled the plug on the whole thing and sent the crew back home. It was the sort of blow that normally spells the absolute end for a project but Warners cautioned that, no, they still want to do it but had concerns over the budget and script.

Well, they were apparently telling the truth and those issues now addressed as Variety broke word that Warner Brothers are ramping it up once again and Collet-Sera is back on board. Will any of the originally attached cast remain on board? Hard to say as they've all moved on to other things in the time since ...