Albert Hughes Follows Keanu Reeves Out of Live Action Akira Film

The live-action adaptation of Akira isn’t getting much love these days. Barely one week after the departure of Keanu Reeves — purportedly due to fan outcry surrounding the actor’s casting as Kaneda — today comes word that the Warner Bros’ project has also lost director Albert Hughes (The Book of Eli). Hughes may not have been a popular choice in some quarters, but his departure casts some doubt on the future of the troubled production.
According to Deadline, Hughes is definitely gone, and while the reasons aren’t specified, many believe that a growing schism between the fundamental tenants of the source material and the studio’s own conflicted aspirations for the film may have been the root cause. Hughes may well have wanted a more mature film with the grittier, darker tone that better reflected the brutal world of the anime, even as the studio attempted to leverage the project as a PG-13 movie to maximize box office revenue.
Moreover, Reeves’ departure from the project perfectly illustrated the difficulties that Warner Bros is having; an older, established actor attempting to personify a film about teenage rebellion. The studio wants to birth a new action-adventure franchise, even as the source material is much more complicated than that.
Deadline is now suggesting that the studio may return to the original vision for the project, which would have seen up-and-coming 20-something actors starring in the adaptation.
Regardless of which way Warner Bros now chooses to go, hopefully the more “mature” tone that Hughes’ likely wanted won’t leave the project with him.