The most exciting aspect of Taika Waititi's long-gestating live-action Akira adaptation is that it will be nothing like the 1988 movie it's based on. Hollywood's Akira movie remains among the most infamous examples of a project stuck in development hell. Katsuhiro Otomo's seminal manga debuted in 1982, and the feature-length anime that followed six years later propelled Akira to iconic status across the world. Naturally, Akira became one of the very first Japanese anime and manga properties to catch the attention of western movie studios, and reports of adaptation plans first emerged in the 1990s.

Over the decades, various iterations of possible Waititi himself alluded toward Akira when mentioning unrealized projects that "bubbled back up" during a late 2024 interview.

Taika Waititi's Akira Movie Would Adapt The Original Manga, Not The Anime Movie

This Isn't Your Mom Or Dad's Akira Movie...

Waititi confirmed to Screen Rant that conversations concerning an adaptation were starting, but also revealed his desire to cover Otomo's manga, not the 1988 anime movie, stating, "I don’t believe the world needs a remake of the anime... I would really just want to look at an adaptation of the books in a new way."

Waititi's promise to adapt the manga over the anime can let his live-action Akira enjoy the best of both worlds.

After going unmade for so long, excitement for a live-action Akira movie may be understandably tempered in 2025, but Waititi's vision is a reinvigorating reminder of why Warner Bros. has kept plugging away at Akira without giving up. Any director who opted to translate the 1988 movie into a modern live-action medium would be setting themselves up for disappointment. The original anime film is a timeless classic beloved by multiple generations of fans and mimicked by a host of subsequent animators inspired by Otomo's work.

While there would be a degree of intrigue in seeing Kaneda and Tetsuo skid futuristic motorbikes around a live-action setting, that wouldn't be enough for the remake to be considered a worthy successor to the first movie. At the same time, live-action anime adaptations that veer too far from their source material have a tendency to fail spectacularly, with Dragonball Evolution and Death Note two prime examples. Waititi's promise to adapt the manga over the anime can let his live-action Akira enjoy the best of both worlds: a fresh perspective that remains faithful and authentic.

The Akira Manga Is Very Different Compared To The Anime Movie

The Two Versions Of Akira Are Almost Unrecognizable

Anime adaptations of manga series are often quite faithful, animating the comic books either exactly or with superficial tweaks. When it comes to Akira, watching the anime movie and reading the manga are two totally different experiences. Katsuhiro Otomo's printed story is a six-volume behemoth told over 120 chapters, whereas the two-hour anime offers a condensed version of broadly the same premise. Consequently, 1988's Akira excises massive chunks of its source material - everything from major manga characters to entire subplots.

Waititi's live-action adaptation will be something movie fans have not yet witnessed.

Among the many differences between Akira's manga and anime, Lady Miyako is a central figure in the original story, but has an almost negligible presence in the anime. The same could be said of Akira himself, who gets far more to do in the former. The Akira manga is, overall, more of a slow-burn compared to the frenetic, futuristic anime. One version isn't necessarily better than the other, but Akira's manga is tonally and narratively separate from its namesake, offering a much richer, more detailed, larger-scale web of conspiracy, drama, and post-apocalyptic intrigue for audiences to invest in.

Akira is set in 2019, which would have been a perfect release date.

When Taika Waititi says he wants to adapt Akira's manga rather than the anime, therefore, he doesn't mean dropping a few scenes here and there. If it happens, Waititi's live-action adaptation will be something movie fans have not yet witnessed on the big screen.

The Problem With Adapting The Akira Manga Into A Live-Action Movie

Waititi's Vision Won't Be Easy To Realize

While Taika Waititi's ambitious idea to adapt the Akira manga is undoubtedly exciting, one must question whether his intention is actually viable. There is, after all, a good reason why Katsuhiro Otomo changed his story so drastically when writing the 1988 anime movie. Turning Akira's manga into one movie would be impossible. Even cramming all six volumes into a two-part movie feels unrealistic when each of those volumes could comfortably sustain its own feature-length release.

The 1988 Akira movie was written and directed by original manga author Katsuhiro Otomo.

In an ideal world, Warner Bros. would commit to a full Akira trilogy, compromising at two manga volumes per movie. Given how difficult making one movie has proven, not to mention the heady expense of bringing Neo-Tokyo into live-action, such generosity is unlikely. Unless Waititi is given the room to do Akira's manga justice across multiple movies, however, adapting the original story instead of the 1988 anime might simply be a dream too far for even the most optimistic director.