Last week, it was reported that director Christopher Nolan ("The Dark Knight" trilogy) and Warner Bros. studio had set a July 2017 release date for his new feature. Though that gave fans a timeline for his next project, it did not give them any specific details.
Now comes a report from Den of Geek that Nolan has spoken with WB about helming its planned live action adaptation trilogy of "Akira." While "Akira" is perfectly suited for summer blockbuster fare, the condensed timeline would make a first entry tough to complete by 2017.
Some fans may roll their eyes at the idea of "Akira," whose original anime film was just one feature, being stretched into a trilogy. Many moviegoers would argue that the quality of "The Hobbit" films suffered as a direct result of that strategy. But Katsuhiro Otomo's original manga totaled six large volumes all together. The original film cut down on certain story elements, virtually eliminating much of the second half.
Nolan has a strong working partnership with Warner Bros. as the studio released his "Dark Knight" trilogy as well as "Inception" with Leonardo DiCaprio. The Academy Award-nominated actor's production company Appian Way is developing the film, meaning he could once again pair with Nolan for this blockbuster effort. However, it's unknown how interested Nolan is in another trilogy so soon after completing his work on the Batman franchise. It is also unknown when DiCaprio could fit this into his schedule with Martin Scorsese's upcoming "Devil in the White City" and possibly Ridley Scott's "The Cartel" on his docket.
For now, this is still just an unconfirmed rumor. We'll keep you posted as more details begin to emerge.
