Hughes Brothers in Talks to Direct 'Akira" Film

"Book of Eli" directors Albert and Allen Hughes will be picking up a different book for their next movie collaboration — none other than "Akira," the adaptation of the popular manga series.

According to New York Magazine, Warner Bros. is currently negotiating a deal with the Hughes brothers to direct the live-action adaptation of "Akira," which comes from a script by "Iron Man" writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Otsby. Leonardo DiCaprio's Appian Way is producing.

"Akira," written and illustrated by Katsuhiro Otomo, takes place in the post-apocalyptic city of Neo-Tokyo and focuses on a biker gang led by the charismatic Kaneda. His best friend is Tetsuo, a man that develops psychic abilities and rapidly loses hold of his sanity. As Tetsuo's powers grow deadlier and deadlier, Kaneda is forced to face the reality that he must put a stop to his closest friend, even if that means killing him.

The story was already adapted as a 1988 anime, though that version of the story shaved off a significant amount of the manga's events. Apparently WB wants to get the full story out of respect for the manga's extreme complexity and wants to make the live-action feature into two films. The first three mangas out of the six volume series will comprise the first film, due out in theaters next year.

So will they shoot the two movies back-to-back?

Back in the summer of ‘09 it was looking like the "Akira" movie was dead; then in the fall we got word that WB is still developing the movie and that Fergus and Ostby are penning the script. Despite what some have said about the start, stop, start, stop motion of this "Akira" flick, it seems as though the development of the film is indeed coming along if the studio is looking at directors.

What do you think of the Hughes Brothers directing two live-action "Akira" movies?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: MTV News, Screen Rant, First Showing