Some projects get a reputation for being “unadaptable” because the story is too vast to be contained, while others earn the label because every attempt to recapture some old magic fails. But more often than not, attempts to adapt some beloved source material fall apart simply because things fail to connect behind the scenes, damning projects to the wastes of development hell. The latest victim is a remake of a classic animated film that had been in the works for over 20 years, but now may never happen at all.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. has released the rights to Akira, the 1988 post-apocalyptic cyberpunk anime movie that stands as a pillar of the genre. Warner first hired Stephen Norrington, director of Blade (another project stuck in remake limbo), in 2002 to make a live-action version. But Norrington never got far, and dozens of writers and directors have come and gone since.
