Keanu Reeves Negotiating for Lead Role in Akira

[Korne]

First Keanu takes the role of Spike in the cancelled Cowboy Bebop movie, and now he is trying to play Akira.

Zac Efron has been trying to get this role for a while, and I think he would make a better Akira than Keanu. I can also imagine him screaming more convincingly.

 

[Vausch]

No. NO NO NO NO NO NONONONONONONONONOFUCKING NO!

This was bad enough when they were considering Robert Pattinson for Tetsuo, Keanu Reaves as Kaneda is just insulting. Go with James Franco or Leonardo DiCaprio like they were originally planning, at least they have credible careers!

 

[WilliamRLBaker]

*shakes head* why they would want to make a movie of that horrible anime.

 

[kaieth]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[hooksashands]

It's pretty cool that a normal actor can go from casual to martial artist, even if his acting is sub-par. He gets props simply for fighting Hugo Weaving in a heavy wet trench coat.

 

[volcanblade]

*sigh*.

It will just be as bad, if not worse than DB: evolutions. At least in THAT, the mainstream audience who don't know a lot about Anime and Manga were somewhat familiar with DBZ.

Shhhh that "evolutions" THING never existed.

OT: This sounds like a horrible idea... Live action rarely works out for anime anyway. (To my limited knowledge at least)

 

[Shikua]

Maybe it would be a good idea to leave this in the hands of the Japanese. And if it's there choice not to blemish an almost perfect anime/ manga with an unecessary Live Action, then so be it.

"almost perfect"? Its one of the most generically japanese things I've read in years. People can mock it for changing the symbolism to 9/11, but trust me, there is no way it could be less subtle than the original was about being about Nagasaki and Hiroshima. "But those were major events in Japanese history" I hear you say. Yeah, cause there was nothing remotely signifigant about 9/11.

To quote Robert Brockway: "The original Akira ended a little strangely - in a violent, scarring burst of disturbing transformations. It was about overstepping our bounds as a species, about what happens when you play God, about anger, confusion, and adolescence - both the main character's adolescence and our collective adolescence as a species."

 

[Shikua]

*sigh*.

It will just be as bad, if not worse than DB: evolutions. At least in THAT, the mainstream audience who don't know a lot about Anime and Manga were somewhat familiar with DBZ.

Shhhh that "evolutions" THING never existed.

OT: This sounds like a horrible idea... Live action rarely works out for anime anyway. (To my limited knowledge at least)

The only good live-action anime adaption I can think of is Speed Racer. God that movie was awesome.

 

[zehydra]

wait Keanu is around 30 (looks like in his early 20,s) isn't a bad actor

I've never seen him do a good acting job.

 

[Korne]

First Keanu takes the role of Spike in the cancelled Cowboy Bebop movie, and now he is trying to play Akira.

Zac Efron has been trying to get this role for a while, and I think he would make a better Akira than Keanu. I can also imagine him screaming more convincingly.

No, he's being cast as Light Yagami.

Yeah, but he has been trying to get the role of Akira for at least a year now. He fits the role perfectly. Its sort of like Nathan Fillion playing Nathan Drake.

 

[MarsProbe]

wait Keanu is around 30 (looks like in his early 20,s) isn't a bad actor

I've never seen him do a good acting job.

With regards to his age, is he not now 45 or thereabouts? If he does end up getting the lead role, then I guess they must be making some changes to the characters, as I don't think Keanu would really be able to pass himself off as the teenage member of a biker gang.

I also thought he did okay in A Scanner Darkly, in my opinion.

 

[kasperbbs]

Anything would be better than a bunch of kids, that stuff only works in anime and Harry Potter movies. No point in whining that they will ruin "akira", anime movie wont go anywhere.

 

[Snotnarok]

Okay I know this falls in a bit of a racist category for some people but, Kanada is Japanese, not a white/cannot act. Let's NOT do this again to another movie, make him Japanese because the original took place in japan, with Japanese characters.

 

[Syntax Error]

OK, OK, silver lining.... At the very least, this is better than Zac Efron or sparkly vampire. Still, Kevin and Travis? WTH Hollywood?

 

[Ellen of Kitten]

If anyone still had some hope for this movie:
http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-actual-live-action-akira-script-worse-than-you-think/

I... I can't keep reading. I feel sick to my stomach. Ugh. I might have to set someone on fire to purge that memory with an equally as bad memory. Memory replacement. -_- Ugh.

 

[Ellen of Kitten]

Okay I know this falls in a bit of a racist category for some people but, Kanada is Japanese, not a white/cannot act. Let's NOT do this again to another movie, make him Japanese because the original took place in japan, with Japanese characters.

Apparently Akira for hollywood has been rewritten and more whitewashed than ivory paint. Someone shared this in an earlier page in this thread. Oh, Tetsuo = Travis now. ;_;

http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-actual-live-action-akira-script-worse-than-you-think/