The live-action adaptation of Akira has just received a new writer. Deadline reports that Dante Harper has been brought on to work with director Jaume Collet-Serra on the latest draft of the script. Ironically, Harper’s biggest credit as a writer is one he doesn’t get…credit for. It was Harper’s spec script, based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s “All You Need Is Kill” that gave us the wonderfully under-appreciated gem Edge of Tomorrow. Despite his script being what created that film adaptation, he got passed over in the credits by the three writers that took later passes at the screenplay.
Regardless, Harper is now set to collaborate with Collet-Serra on a new take of the beloved title Akira. The property began it’s pop culture life as a Japanese manga by Katsuhiro Otomo back in 1980. In the years to follow, it would get an anime adaptation, and video games based on it. The original story fused elements of the cyberpunk, sci-fi, and thriller genres.
Collet-Serra’s other credits include Non-Stop, Unknown, Orphan, & the House of Wax remake.
SOURCE: Deadline
