The live-action adaptation of Akira has been in development hell for the better part of the last few years. Jaume Collet-Serra was attached to direct the film at one point, with Garrett Hedlund and Kristen Stewart set to star as the film’s leads. But the project never entered production due to budgetary disagreements. In 2013, it was reported that Collet-Serra was back to direct, but not much has been heard about him and the status of the film since then. The only major development was that Daredevil season 2 showrunner Marco Ramirez was tapped to pen the new script.

Now another major development seems to be steering the live-action Akira towards production. Hot off the news that Christopher Nolan would be directing an untitled film set for a 2017 release comes word that he is in talks to produce Akira as a live-action trilogy. More on this story below.

Den of Geek was the first to report on the breaking news, which has yet to be confirmed by official channels. There are two things that are important to take away from this report.

• Warner Bros. is the studio that is planning to make a trilogy of films based on Akira.
• Christopher Nolan has met with a previously attached filmmaker, whom the site cannot name at this time, within the past three months to talk about the project.

One thing the site can confirm is that Collet-Serra is no longer attached to direct the film, trilogy or otherwise.

As some would speculate, the currently untitled 2017 film that Nolan is directing is Akira. Which would make sense. The Dark Knight filmmaker has been behind some major big-budget blockbusters, and the film is scheduled in the heart of the summer blockbuster season. However, the report does mention that Nolan is only attached to produce the film, not direct it. This would most likely mean that Nolan would produce the entire trilogy. The site reiterated that this is nothing more than just a rumor at the moment, and it should be treated as such until confirmed by the studio.

It is also important to note that Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way is producing. DiCaprio and Nolan have already worked together on the dreamscape actioner Inception.

But the Akira film continues to cast the smaller pieces, and with no cast or director announced as of yet, it is looking more and more like fans will have to wait for that confirmation that the film has been given the green light. We’ll keep you posted as the story develops.

[Source: Den of Geek]