Blade Director to Adapt 'Akira' For Western Audiences

dswensen writes: "According to the Sci-Fi Channel web site, Steven Norrington (director of Blade) is going to write and direct an adaptation of the classic anime Akira. Norrington says his story 'preserves the tone, the visual and the epic scope of the original, whilst telling a somewhat more accessible story [to Western audiences]." The article doesn't mention whether the adaptation will be animated or live-action. Given Norrington's track record and the butchery that usually takes place under the guise of making something 'accessible,' it's hard to take this as extraordinarily good news."

Comments

so like

[digitalsushi]

more accessible story [to Western audiences]

Tetsuo: Kaneda!!!!!
Kaneda: Tetsuo!!!!!
Tetsuo: Kaneda!!!!!
Kaneda: Tetsuo!!!!!
Tetsuo: Kaneda!!!!!
Kaneda: "I'm getting too old for this [expletive]"

Norrington?

[Rampant Atrocity]

Norrington told the Reporter that his draft "preserves the tone, the visual and the epic scope of the original, whilst telling a somewhat more accessible story [to Western audiences]."

Akira: dude? where's my motorcycle?

Why why why?

[da3dAlus]

If it's already a classic in one form, why try to remake it? Making it more "accessible" is just anther way of saying "dumbing down". If the remainder of the Western audience doesn't understand the film (in either the subbed or dubbed version) then why the hell would you bother? The movie is a classic for so many reasons on it's own (artistic style, notoriety, story base, etc). I'm probably just pulling a bit out of my ass there, but my point is, if it's already good leave it alone.

Femme Nikita?

[Matt2000]

Remember when they did the American version of La Femme Nikita with Bridget Fonda or something? They managed to achieve heir vision by removing all elements of style and character, and replacing them with larger explosions.

Great work America.

Fortunately, we recently got the 'pure' version.

[2Flower]

The latest Akira DVD release has a completely redone script / sub track / dub track that's a more accurate translation of the original. That means we've got as perfect a version as we can get (and with decent dubbing, too!). Stephen can go and make his version; maybe it'll be entertaining.

Now, if they pull the DVD off shelves or never released one in the first place, assuming that the watered down hackjob version Mr. Blade is gonna produce is the best one, then I'd be raging upset. As is I'm only mildly amused, but slightly perturbed at what this means for the future...

If more movie hauses decide this is the way to go -- remake rather than port over. Anime's just starting to get a slim toehold on American theatres (Princess Mononoke, Vampire Hunter D) and having remakes shove them aside is not good.

Oh god, here we go again..

[Sc00ter]

everybody screaming leave it alone, the original was better, blah blah blah..

1. If you don't want to see the new version, don't watch it. Nobody is saying you have to give up your old version of Akira and trade it in for the new one. You don't like it, don't watch it!
2. There's nothing wrong with trying to make something better. Some people might find this new version better, some will like the old version. Not everybody likes the same things.
3. If anything, this will bring the story of Akira to a larger audience, it will get people to wonder where it came from, and they'll seek out the Japanese version of the moive, and the comic books. Then there will be people that will see it for what it was, and they may like it better, or they'll like the newer version better.

To each his own, and if something brings a story to a wider audience, one that would have NEVER seen it otherwise, I say more power too them.

And to the person that brought up La Femme Nikita and the remake (Point of no Return). I saw Point of no Return, thought it was interesting, found out it was a remake of La Femme Nikita, thought it was MUCH better.. and you know what, if they didn't make Point of no Return, I would have NEVER known about La Femme Nikita.

Re:Oh god, here we go again..

[majcher]

I've got four words for you: "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles".

The original, by Eastman and Laird, was an excellent satire of the sorry state of the comics industry, drawn in their own unique style, and was pretty darkly funny. Then came the movies, and the cartoons, and the videogames, and blah blah blah - they had turned an intelligent, insightful series of 30 or so books into a massive tide of crap that completely obliterated the original.

Ask anyone who wasn't a comics geek in the mid-80s what their first impression is of TMNT, and the reaction you'll most likely get is, "oh, wasn't that that crappy kid's cartoon?". So sure, they got a lot more exposure that way, but it wasn't good - and I doubt anyone is going to track down the brilliant originals after seeing the shitty remake.

Here's a scary thought-

[Mulletproof]

"Fist of the North Star Live action"

Yeah, I'm real hopeful about Akira... ~sigh~

It's really quite simple

[Mishra2002]

Akira is about a theme that has been touched on by many Sci-Fi authors. That the ultimate form of evolution for human beings will be when we achive Pure energy. Humans will become a conciousness of unlimited power. In akira the government is performing expirements on children in attempts to tap into some of this power. Akira went to far fully transforming into an energy being an the power of his transformation destroyed the city. Tetsuo eventually becomes so powerful the same thing happens. meanwhile though as he's transforming he loses control of his body. Akira returns to help Tetsuo Transfrom, and together they use the energy realeased from Tetsuos Rebirth to create a new universe of which they are the gods, hence the whole Galaxies and Stuff at the end.

Of course this is by no means definative, this is just my take on the movie, that's what makes it so good, that it's open to interpretation.

-Mishra

Here's why adaptations get made.

[Fantastic Lad]

There are three reasons film adaptations get made.

1. Because somebody with more than enough creative power to write and produce their own high grade work, gets electrified by another artist's idea to the point that they are willing to pour their own skills into realizing that work in film.

Examples of this are films like Stand by Me and The Bridges of Madison County and The Terminator.

2. When through a purely accountant driven system, a great foriegn film is decided upon as the next studio project. No soul, no creative verve, and nobody except executives salivating to get it made. Point of No Return is a perfect example of such a film.

It should be noted that projects like this, can sometimes turn out well if a powerful creative mind becomes very excited and is given a pivotal role in the film's production, but this rarely happens.

3. When dreamers with only moderate skill or creative talent of their own find themselves in positions of power, and get electrified by a brilliant artist's vision, and set out to realize that vision in film. --The problem is that such creators usually miss the nuances of a work and provide only the surface glitter and an over-amplified approximation of what they were moved by in the original form but did not understand the mechanics of.

These creators are not professional artists so much as they are Fans-boys with budgets. And there are rather a large number of them out there.

Their works include films like, Fellowship of The Rings, and Stargate, which admittedly was not an adaptation, but a wasted idea nonetheless. (The same can be said of any film made by Emmerich and Devlin!), and of course, Blade.

Akira struck me as a very cold film with a lot of neat looking effects and interesting takes on psi-power, but which ultimately had no heart and virtually nothing significant to say at all.

Unfortunately, while there is a handful of rather amazing exceptions, this could describe nearly all of the media which comes out of Japan. A very 'obedient' nation which spends a great deal of energy actively punishing anybody who dares express their individuality, and anybody who comes up with anything even remotely resembling a new idea. Careful shadings of old ideas are all that are acceptable. --According to a few friends who moved away as soon as they were old enough, I am assured that Japan was NOT a fun place to grow up.

-Fantastic Lad

Re:just keep the original

[jellybear]

How about trying to stick a fish in your ear? I think I read about it in a book, and it was supposed to work...

Re:What _is_ Akira about.

[AnalogBoy]

Don't bash the dolls, man.

You haven't been frightened until you've had a nightmare while staring your childhood "teddy bear" in his newly befanged face, while "Dolls Polyphony" was mysteriously playing.

Of course, my teddy was actually a rabbit. Which didn't make it any better.