Warner Bros. has been trying to develop an Akira adaptation since 2002, and most recently rumors have circulated that they want Fast & Furious’ and Star Trek Beyond’s director Justin Lin to direct.
However, one of the first directors to be attached was Ruairi Robinson, who in 2014 shared concept art for their depiction of the film. The film was set to take place in New Manhattan, and follow a biker gang’s leader who has to save his friend, Tetsuo, who possesses potentially destructive psychokinetic abilities, from government medical experiments.
The art reveals Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tetsuo, and Chris Evans as Kaneda, with a futuristic New York set both before and after the apocalypse, and it’s definitely interesting to take a look at what we may have actually seen on the big screen.
Check out the concept art below:
The 1988 film’s synopsis reads: In 1988 the Japanese government drops an atomic bomb on Tokyo after ESP experiments on children go awry. In 2019, 31 years after the nuking of the city, Kaneda, a bike gang leader, tries to save his friend Tetsuo from a secret government project. He battles anti-government activists, greedy politicians, irresponsible scientists and a powerful military leader until Tetsuo’s supernatural powers suddenly manifest. A final battle is fought in Tokyo Olympiad exposing the experiment’s secrets.
Source: Ruairi Robinson
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