Deadline reports that Albert Hughes (From Hell, Book of Eli) has exited the terrible sounding Akira adaptation. They say the director and studio have creative differences. It's unknown if the all the white casting candidates or deviation from important Japanese setting from the source material was the reason. Warners is pushing forward and looking for a replacement director. Giving the impression production is likely to start within the year. This is the second director to leave the project the first being Oscar nominated Ruairi Robinson. Keanu Reeves recently turned down the lead role of Kaneda which seems to be yet another kink in the works for the film. It also doesn't help Akira isn't getting much backing from the source material's fanbase. Changing many of elements from the original story along with the characters' ages, Japanese setting and tone (going from R to PG-13). There is also a rather large online campaign to stop the "white-washing" casting. I'm a really big fan of Warner Bros. but I'm starting to really dislike this whole project. It would be smart on their part to retool the script and fix the issues fans have.
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