Jordan Peele Has No Regret for Turning Down Akira Remake Despite His Passion for Anime

The ‘Get Out’ filmmaker explains why he is ‘glad’ that he decided to stay away from the live-action revival of Katsuhiro Otomo’s 1988 anime despite his love for Japanese comic books.

AceShowbiz –Jordan Peele is grateful that he didn’t direct the “Akira” remake. Approached by Warner Bros. to direct a live-action remake of Katsuhiro Otomo’s 1988 anime, the 43-year-old filmmaker admits that he ultimately declined the offer as he felt he would struggle to faithfully recreate the story.

“It’s a project I’m so passionate about. I’m glad I didn’t do it because I feel like… staying away from that, trying to interpret that IP just set me on the path to create something new. But I want to see Neo-Tokyo. I want to see an all-Japanese cast. I want to feel immersed in the world, the way of the films in the manga,” Jordan told the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast.

The “Get Out” director has made similar comments about the project in the past and stressed that his desire to make original film and TV projects outweighs his passion for anime.

Speaking in 2017, Jordan said, “I think (I could do it) if the story justifies it. ‘Akira’ is one of my favourite movies, and I think obviously the story justifies as big a budget as you can possibly dream of. But the real question for me is, Do I want to do pre-existing material, or do I want to do original content? At the end of the day, I want to do original stuff.”

Jordan previously revealed that he wants to pay homage to “Akira” in his recent film “Nope” by recreating the famous downward slow-motion slide shot from the anime, which the director claims introduced him to a world of animation.

He said, “It was an expensive VHS. Straight up, like, $25 or $30. Coming from being raised to think that Disney is synonymous with animation, I was suddenly introduced to this entire world, where animation is also adult.”

“There are so many things that you’re experiencing throughout that film like cyberpunk dystopia, with the inventiveness of the biker culture that is enough to populate whole seasons of television, and then this huge, horrific take on superpower.”

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