The Latest ‘Akira’ Report: Keanu Reeves To Play Kaneda?
Oh,Akira. You’re never going to be able to make fans happy. Die-hards are going to hate the fact that the characters are older than the original incarnations inKatsuhiro Otomo’s manga and movie — maybe up to 30 years older if this rumor comes true. There is the whitewashing issue, and the fact that, even with two films and a big-ish budget to play with,concessionswill have to be made to put the story on screen.
But let’s throw this one out and see how everyone responds. While actors likeJames Franco,Joseph Gordon-Levitt,Brad Pitt, Robert PattinsonandMila Kunishave beenmentioned for roles, the current reported front-runner to playAkira’s lead, the juvenile delinquent biker Kaneda, isKeanu Reeves. Whoa.
THRsays that Keanu Reeves has had talks with the studio to play Kaneda, but there isn’t yet an offer out for him to sign on. He and Warner Bros. have a good legacy relationship, thanks to the Matrix films, and I guess if directorAlbert Hughesand WB want to age the characters up to the point where they’re essentially different characters, and cast recognizable mainstream actors, Keanu Reeves would be one of the most appropriate choices for Kaneda.
Is this going to happen? Seems more likely than anything else at this point. Should it happen? Frankly, I’ve given up any investment in the development of this particular project and I’m just looking at it like a strange beast caged in a zoo.
As I’ve said before I’m always ready to embrace big changes that are made when a property is adapted from page to screen, so I’m not writing this off entirely. It probably won’t beAkiraas we know it, but there are already a couple versions of thatAkira. So maybe Albert Hughes can come up with something new to present using the same basic building blocks. I know, I know — why call itAkira, if that’s the case? I don’t have an answer beyond the basics of economics and the development of big properties. The name will sell, and so that’s one thing that WB will probably never give up.
(And yes, Sad Keanu is pretty over at this point, but it seemed all too appropriate here.)
