Taika Waititi Rumored to be Akira Hollywood Live Action Film’s Director

Thor: Ragnarok‘s director Taika Waititi is heavily rumored to be the new director for the planned Hollywood adaptation of AKIRA.

Deadline reports that Warner Bros. Pictures is currently eyeing the director helm live action AKIRA which was released in 1988 and was directed by Katsuhiro Otomo.

The Akira project has been in development hell; decades in fact. It had long been rumored to be in the works way back in the late 90s before Warner Bros. picked up the rights to make the movie in 2002. A few years ago, the film gained traction once more with Twilight’s Kristen Stewart and Garrett Hedlund set to appear with leading roles. Warner Bros. has at one point tapped Get Out Jordan Peele. There was another time that Life director Daniel Espinosa as well as Lights Out director David Sandberg was also involved in the project.

Katsuhiro Otomo’s AKIRA debuted Young Magazine in 1988 and was THE seminal cyberpunk manga of its generation. The manga also holds the distinction of being the first serial to be translated in English.

The story follows a teenage biker gang member and Neo Tokyo denizen, Tetsuo Shima, who becomes embroiled in a mystery involving his leader, Shotaro Kaneda, and a series of government experiments designed to harness the human potential for psychic proficiency. The experiment, of course, goes awry, which leaves Katsuhiro to discover the secrets of the enigmatic Akira.