Movies
Warner Bros. Once Again Pulls the Plug on ‘Akira’
Akira is one of the greatest animated films of all time and yet, Warner Bros. can’t seem to get a live-action adaptation off the ground.
Variety is reporting that, in the wake of Taika Waititi taking the reigns on Marvel’s Thor 4, the studio has pulled the plug on production indefinitely. The adaptation was set to begin later this fall with plans to release in 2021. Warners hopes when Waititi is done with production on Thor 4 that the film can get back into production.
The site notes that Waititi was in the midst of meeting with young Japanese actors for Akira’s two lead roles. While the studio originally delayed production to give him time to find the right talent, budget concerns sent the film back into development. This is unlikely.
Jaume Collet-Serra was set to direct in 2012 when Warner Bros. had similar budgetary concerns at the time, and the studio went back to the drawing board. I commend the studio for attempting to set the film up for success, although the wait to see this adaptation come to fruition has grown tiring.
In Akira, a secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop.
Movies
‘Backrooms’ Director Kane Parsons Is No Fan of Generative AI: “Defeats the Purpose Entirely for Me”
There has been a lot of talk recently about filmmakers embracing generative AI as part of the filmmaking process, from Darren Aronofsky to Martin Scorsese. But what about filmmakers that are against the use of Gen AI for creative pursuits? You can count 20-year-old Backrooms director Kane Parsons among that group, which should give you some hope for the future.
In a new chat with The Australian, the self-taught young filmmaker makes it crystal clear that he won’t be using generative AI in any of his upcoming filmmaking projects.
“I think I’m in the same boat as most well-adjusted people,” Parsons tells the outlet. “If I could snap my fingers and make generative AI disappear forever, I probably would. Creatively, I get no enjoyment from using those tools. It defeats the purpose entirely for me.”
“What interests me more is interrogating it artistically,” Parsons notes. “We already live in a world where you walk outside and there are billboards and signs that are obvious AI slop. That’s become part of our visual reality. To me, generative AI feels less like innovation than a symptom of a broader cultural and economic rot.”
He explains, “I’m interested in using that iconography in art – not using AI to make the art itself, but examining what it represents. I definitely want to explore it further in future projects.”
Kane Parsons also notes during the interview with The Australian, “… there’s so much at stake and so many genuinely harmful consequences already happening.”
Backrooms marks young prodigy Kane Parsons’ feature directorial debut, and it’s based on his own series of YouTube videos that were brought to life using Blender, the open-source 3D computer graphics software suite. So it’s no surprise that Parsons, who has hand-made his filmmaking career up to this point, isn’t buying into the hoopla around Generative AI.
His debut feature is the #1 movie in the world, so perhaps he’s onto something.
What’s next from Kane Parsons, you ask? Stay tuned…
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