On last week’s Meet the Movie Press, I passed along a rumor that Daniel Espinosa and David F. Sandberg were in the running to direct the live-action AKIRA movie for Warner Bros. but here on the ground at CinemaCon that discussion has shifted, with insiders saying the studio is moving aggressively to lock in Jordan Peele to direct coming off the mega-success of Get Out.

Warner Bros. has been enamored with Peele ever since Get Out opened to big business and sparked a cultural conversation. At one point, I thought the studio was going to ask him to direct THE FLASH. Who knows? They still could! But I’m told Akira is the WB project they’re currently discussing with Peele, and the talks have apparently been encouraging.

Representatives for Warner Bros. and Peele did not immediately respond to an after-hours request for comment.

Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way is producing Akira with Andrew Lazar (American Sniper). Marco Ramirez (Netflix’s Daredevil) wrote the most recent draft of the script, though it’s expected that Peele would do his own pass should he close a deal.

Warner Bros. has struggled for years to gets its live-action adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo’s classic manga off the ground, and the property has languished in development to fans’ dismay. The film nearly went into production several years ago with Jaume Collet-Serra directing Garrett Hedlund and Kristen Stewart, but the plug was pulled at the last minute.

Now I know what you’re thinking. I’ve cried wolf before about Akira. In addition to Espinosa (whose Life just underperformed) and Sandberg (who ended up getting the bigger Shazam gig), I’ve said that Justin Lin was being sought to direct at one point. But all of those names were floated on the podcast, never published. Our sourcing is solid on this one, but of course, I’m not at the negotiating table, and The Flash remains a tantalizing, not to mention even higher-profile possibility.

So, what would a deal with Peele mean for Akira? Well for starters, he would be an exciting coup for a project that has unfortunately developed a reputation as being “troubled.” At the time, many blogs were upset about casting Hedlund and Stewart as traditionally Asian leads — the same issues that have plagued Paramount’s upcoming Ghost in the Shell. But Peele deftly navigated racial themes in Get Out, and it’s that very sensitivity that could make him the perfect director for the job.

Peele’s directorial debut Get Out has grossed more than $150 million on a reported budget of less than $5 million. Insiders say he’s refreshingly unpredictable and could always decide to stick with making socially-conscious genre films that give him more creative freedom for the time being, but the feeling within the industry is he’s ready to make the big-budget leap now.

Peele, who will be in Las Vegas on Thursday to accept CinemaCon’s Director of the Year Award, is represented by CAA, Principato-Young Entertainment and attorney Jared Levine.

But Peele deftly navigated racial themes in Get Out, and it’s that very sensitivity that could make him the perfect director for the job.

The name Leonardo DiCaprio seems to be a little bit golden when it comes to the Golden State and tax incentives for film and television.

The Oscar winner saw the Quentin Tarantino directed Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, in which DiCaprio co-stars with Brad Pitt, awarded over $18 million from California’s $330 million annual incentives program in 2017. Now DiCaprio’s Appian Way shingle has been allocated $18.5 million for a live action version of Akira from Warner Bros.

Having gestated for a number of years, The Departed star produced adaptation of anime artist Katsuhiro Otomo’s 6-volume classic graphic novel was among 18 feature films that were unveiled today as successful recipients of the last round of allocations from the state and the California Film Commission.

“We are thrilled with the opportunity to shoot Akira in California,” said Ravi Mehta, Warner Bros. Pictures EVP of physical production and finance on Tuesday of the film and the tax credits it has been awarded. “The availability of top-notch crew members, plus the wide variety of location choices and predictable weather are second to none,” the exec added of the upcoming project.

Eager to display that the 13th big budget film to receive tax credits since the program was expanded back in 2014 is a good financial bet, the CFC reckons Akira will create a total of $92 million in spending in Cali during production – which is serious cash all round.

In full, the math for this latest round of awards for the 18 films is estimated to generate about $408 million in what the CFC call “qualified expenditures.”

Set to film entirely in the Golden State, the also Andrew Lazar produced Akira itself is estimated to generate $43 million in wages to 200 below-the line crew members and more than 5,000 extras during its 71 days of filming. Having seen his name floated around in the past in connection to the project, Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi is still on-board to helm Akira, I hear.

BTW, though that $18.5 million that Akira has been allocated is a pretty nice chunk of change from the state, it is not actually the most that California has handed out to a pic since the tax incentives program started accepting applications from tentpole projects five years ago. So far, the two spots belong to the Transformers spinoff Bumblebee and the LeBron James starring Space Jam 2 with $22.4 million and $21.8 million in credits respectively.

Of course, that could change after the next round of big screen applications are digitally submitted from June 17-21 this year. In terms of the small screen, the next application period for TV projects is May 20-24, with the allocations expected to be announced some time in late June or early July.

‘Akira’ Production Put on Hold by Warner Bros.
By JUSTIN KROLL Justin Kroll

Warner Bros. has put its long-in-development “Akira” adaptation on hold indefinitely, sources tell Variety.

Sources indicate that after a brief delay, the studio has pulled the plug on production indefinitely for the classic anime adaptation, which was set to begin later this fall. “Thor: Ragnarok” helmer Taika Waititi was on board to direct, and the studio hopes that “Akira” can get back into production once he’s done filming “Thor 4.” Multiple sources close to Warner Bros. found this week’s announcement of Waititi directing “Thor 4” to be surprising, with one person adding they were caught off guard by Waititi’s decision to focus on the Marvel property as “Akira” was getting closer to production.

Waititi was in the midst of meeting with young Japanese actors for “Akira’s” two lead roles. While the studio originally delayed production to give him time to find the right talent, it now seems there may have been more creative disagreements over the project.

The postponement represents another setback for the “Akira” adaptation, which has spent years trying to get off the ground, dating back to when Jaume Collet-Serra was set to direct in 2012. Warner Bros. had similar budgetary concerns at the time, and the studio went back to the drawing board. Collet-Serra eventually departed to work on other projects.

When Waititi boarded the film in 2018 after he finished production on Fox Searchlight’s “Jojo Rabbit,” the project looked to be in its best position in years to finally get moving. “Akira” was scheduled to open on May 21, 2021, but it’s now likely to be removed from the schedule.