It’s been many, many years since we last heard of the Akira live-action adaptation, and fans felt like it was dead in the water again. However, during a recent interview, the movie’s producer Andrew Lazar provided an unexpected update on the movie and even teased when fans should keep their eyes peeled for the next piece of news.

The comment came during a sit-down with Moovy TV, in which the producer was promoting Prime Video‘s new movie G20. When casually asked about Akira, Lazar stated that at the moment there isn’t anything to say but provided a huge hint that suggests the project is very much alive. He stated:

“There’s no update, but I expect we’ll have one in the next couple of months. So I think you can expect an update in the next couple of months.”

Considering how long the project has been in radio silence, fans will certainly be on the lookout to discover in what direction the project is moving. Back when it was announced, Taika Waititi (Thor: Love and Thunder) was slated to direct — but that was all the way back in 2017, so plans might have changed. Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another) was also attached as producer, but all this needs to be re-confirmed due to how long Akira has been brewing.

Is The ‘Akira’ Live-Action Ever Happening?

It’s understandable that Akira became another example of development hell. Since the original anime movie is considered one of the world’s biggest masterpieces, the adaptation has to meet huge expectations and justify its own existence — the Katsuhiro Otomo classic still holds up pretty well. Not by chance, the cyberpunk movie has been referenced and served as inspiration for countless titles, from The Matrix and Cowboy Bebop to Inception and even Nope.

Set in 2019’s Neo-Tokyo, Akira centers around a post-apocalyptic society in the aftermath of World War III. In this context, biker gang member Tetsuo (voiced by Nozomu Sasaki in the original Japanese and Joshua Seth in the English dub) lives in a completely chaotic city in which everything goes, from corruption to gang violence. His life and his friends’ are changed forever after an accident gives Tetsuo superpowers and, therefore, an advantage that allows him and his group to tackle the military and start their own rebellion.

When the talks of the adaptation started heating up, Waititi stated that one of his plans to make the new Akira relevant was to use the original manga series by Otomo as a source rather than the 1988 movie — meaning that the new version would feature some events that never made it into an action flick. Waititi also hinted at the desire to use unknown actors for the main roles. But again, this was almost a decade ago, so we have to wait for the update a couple of months from now to see what is actually going to happen.

You can stream the original Akira anime movie on Crunchyroll and Prime Video.

via Collider