Comics
Warner Bros. Wants Jordan Peele for ‘Akira’?
Warner Bros. has been “courting” filmmakers for so long that I’m beginning to wonder what’s scaring everyone off?
Back in June, the studio was allegedly targeting Justin Lin, director of many Fast and Furious films, such as The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift through Fast & Furious 6, as well as Star Trek Beyond. It appears they’ve moved on and are attempting to land Get Out‘s Jordan Peele, according to this tracking board.
The site also added that they’ve heard Daniel Espinosa (Life) and David F. Sandberg (Lights Out, Annabelle 2) are also on Warners shortlist, the latter of which we can confirm here on Bloody Disgusting.
While nothing is confirmed, this would be quite the revival for the franchise that’s been in development hell since 2002 (when Ruairí Robinson was attached to direct).
In September 2015 it was being reported that Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins, Inception) had been rumored to be involved in the project that’s being handled by Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company, Appian Way, and the script being written by Marco J. Ramirez (“Sons of Anarchy”).
Akira was originally a six-volume manga written by Katsuhiro Otomo, so a trilogy would really allow the movies to dive into the stories rather than try to squeeze everything into one film.
In the Manga, “A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psionic psychopath that only two kids and a group of psionics can stop.”
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
You must be logged in to post a comment.