Movies
Keanu Passes On ‘Akira’, Pre-Viz Halted
Even though he has a strong relationship with Warner Bros. by way of the The Matrix franchise, Keanu Reeves has officially passed on the role of Kaneda in the live-action Akira film, based on the 1988 landmark anime and six-volume manga, reports JoBlo.
The project has been in development hell for years and has had numerous big names circling it – James Franco, Brad Pitt, Joseph Gordon-Levitt to name a few – but none have ultimately signed on to the Albert Hughes helmed sci-fi flick, whose budget has swelled to an estimated $140 million. WB must’ve really been saddened by Keanu passing on the role, because they shut down the pre-viz department and let go most of the staff working on the film afterwards.
They still claim to be in the adaptation business, saying “Production on `Akira’ has not halted or been shut down, as the film has not yet been greenlit and is still very much in the development stage. The exploratory process is crucial to a project of this magnitude, and we will continue to sculpt our approach to making the best possible film.”
Regardless of the spin the studio will try to put on this, the facts are these: With word of even more possible rewrites to lower the budget (which soared much higher than WB expected), Akira is going to limp to its death unless an outside studio steps in to co-produce or an A-list actor jumps on board – and fast. They can tinker all they want, but Akira is huge in scope. Unless WB decides to visually represent the physical manifestation of Akira as a storm cloud (I’m looking at you, Rise Of The Silver Surfer) and film it in suburbia, I can’t imagine the film costing less than $100 million.
Woah, in the future I have a career!
The next V/H/S installment is on the way, this time from producer Roy Lee (Weapons, IT), and it’s landed on its new theme.
Spooky Pictures and Image Nation are teaming to produce V/H/S: SCP, Variety reports, and it’ll be the first feature-length addition to the online collective fiction project, the SCP (Special Containment Procedures) Foundation.
The SCP Foundation began in 2008 as a collaborative digital project and has since grown into one of the largest fan-driven horror and sci-fi universes online. You can get acquainted with the SCP Foundation via Bloody FM’s SCP Archives podcast.
V/H/S: SCP will be framed as “’recovered field documentation,’ or video evidence gathered, redacted, and archived by the secretive organization. Standalone segments in the anthology will focus on different objects, entities, or events under the containment-breach narrative.”
Spooky Pictures is headed by genre veterans Steven Schneider (Insidious, Paranormal Activity) and Roy Lee (Weapons, IT). They’ll be joined by Josh Goldbloom (V/H/S/94, V/H/S/99, V/H/S/Halloween) and Michael Schreiber (V/H/S/94, V/H/S/Beyond) as producers.
“The horror genre continues to be a remarkable launchpad for new talent to share original creations, and the vast SCP universe has provided a vital incubator for this creativity to thrive,” Spooky Pictures co-founder Steven Schneider said. “Along with INS, this next project reinforces our shared commitment to look in new and unexpected spaces for stories. We can’t wait to expand the V/H/S franchise with new, fresh, and terrifying stories that will keep viewers coming back for more.”
V/H/S launched in 2012, followed by 2013’s V/H/S/2, 2014’s V/H/S: Viral, 2021’s V/H/S/94, 2022’s V/H/S/99, 2023’s V/H/S/85, 2024’s V/H/S/Beyond, and 2025’s V/H/S/Halloween.
The upcoming installment marks the ninth film in this franchise.
The SCP Foundation is a worldwide force dedicated to securing, containing, and protecting anomalies from people – At least according to the lore of the website.
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