Warner Brothers has been attempting to bring a live-action adaption of Akira to the big screen for a long while now, with many budgetary complications and cast and crew issues leading to delay after delay…much to the elation of fans who don’t want to see it happen.

Lately, however, things appeared to be moving forward, and doing so at a quick pace. Beginning this past October, the movie was officially greenlighted after some budget problems were ironed out and a star was found in Tron: Legacy‘s Garrett Hedlund. Then came word that The Twilight Saga star Kristen Stewart might be in line for the role of Kei.

Now things have yet again taken a turn for the worst (if you wanted to see this movie happen, of course). It’s being reported that Warner Brothers has shut down production, with one insider saying “everyone is being sent home.”

“Everyone” actually means all “below-the-line” workers, while the higher-ups will remain to figure out what needs to be figured out. What exactly that is is not yet clear—evidently there are issues with budget, the script, and with casting as well. Some think that director Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan, Unknown) will need to work with producers to cut the budget down from $90 million to around $60 million or $70 million, which is insane because Collet-Serra already had to cut the budget down from $180 million when Albert Hughes was attached to direct to the $90 million it was at.

Another seems to think the budget will remain at $90 million while it is the script that needs to be fixed. Steve Kloves, who worked on the screenplay for every Harry Potter movie and the upcoming Amazing Spider-Man, was paid a large amount to work on the Akira as well, but it’s unclear whether he’ll be brought back if the script is in fact the primary concern.

If no resolutions can be figured out to these problems within the next two weeks or so, there’s a chance that Akira could be killed off completely. But for now, the project is simply on hold.

[Source: Heat Vision]