Warner Bros shuts down Akira production – for now
by Doc on Jan.05, 2012, under Movies
The long- and highly-anticipated live action production of the well-known anime feature, Akira (and I mean long – we first reported about it just about 10 years ago), has been shut down by Warner Bros at least for a couple weeks, to see if the producers can shrink the budget even further.
The budget was already cut down to about $90 million when current director Jaume Collet-Serra (House of Wax) took over, where previously it was looking close to $200 million. But it appears the studio doesn’t believe the cast can draw the numbers still. The only actor currently signed on is Garrett Hedlund, who only saw moderate success with Tron: Legacy, while actors Ken Watanabe (Inception), Kristin Stewart (the Twilight saga) and Helena Bonham Carter (the Harry Potter franchise, Dark Shadows) in negotiations, but apparently that is not necessarily the star power they want for the budget. It is believed if they can cut another $20-$30 million, however, it may move forward.