Last week it was initially reported that Warner Bros. had again shut down pre-production on its live-action Akira film, this time pending a thorough script revision.
Warner previously shut down the film’s pre-visualization department in May 2011, before contracting Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown, Orphan, House of Wax) to direct the film.
The script has already gone through two re-writes and a budget downsize from $130-1$50 million down to $90 million. Within the next two weeks Warner expects to bring in a new writer to “polish” the script further.
However, Variety reported again that this is not the end, that the movie was just put on hold due to the script and budget reductions.
Warner Bros. wants the current script draft, which was written by David James Kelly, to be reworked. Deadline.com added the studio will quickly hire "a high-end writer to do a polish" on the script before deciding whether to resume the project or not.
Variety named Jonah Nolan (The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises) and Michael Green (Green Lantern) as possible candidates, but emphasized that no rewriting job has actually been offered yet. Studio sources did tell Variety that the script and cast are the issues, not the US$90-million budget.
According to Deadline, the Warner Bros. studio had option deals with two acting candidates for the central role of Tetsuo, Dane DeHaan (Chronicle, True Blood, far left) and Michael Pitt (Boardwalk Empire,. left) However, both of their options deals ended today, so the actors are no longer legally bound to keep their schedules open for Akira.
Warner previously shut down the film’s pre-visualization department in May 2011, before contracting Jaume Collet-Serra (Unknown, Orphan, House of Wax) to direct the film.
The script has already gone through two re-writes and a budget downsize from $130-1$50 million down to $90 million. Within the next two weeks Warner expects to bring in a new writer to “polish” the script further.
However, Variety reported again that this is not the end, that the movie was just put on hold due to the script and budget reductions.
Warner Bros. wants the current script draft, which was written by David James Kelly, to be reworked. Deadline.com added the studio will quickly hire "a high-end writer to do a polish" on the script before deciding whether to resume the project or not.
Variety named Jonah Nolan (The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises) and Michael Green (Green Lantern) as possible candidates, but emphasized that no rewriting job has actually been offered yet. Studio sources did tell Variety that the script and cast are the issues, not the US$90-million budget.
According to Deadline, the Warner Bros. studio had option deals with two acting candidates for the central role of Tetsuo, Dane DeHaan (Chronicle, True Blood, far left) and Michael Pitt (Boardwalk Empire,. left) However, both of their options deals ended today, so the actors are no longer legally bound to keep their schedules open for Akira.
Thanks, I'll pass :/