Akira, Neo-Manhattan and International Remakes

Warner Brothers gather talent to remake Manga classic amid controversy

Warner Brothers has revealed details of its forthcoming live action remake of the Japanese Anime classic Akira, but despite initial gasps of horror in geekdom it may prove to be an interesting project.

The original Akira, which spearheaded Anime’s blitz into Western culture, is set in a neon-lit post-apocalyptic Tokyo overrun with bike gangs. One gang member, Tetsuo, is involved in an accident with an escaped government secret which subsequently unleashes some teenage angst style psychic ability, which he fuels to dangerous effect. His gang leader and friend, and the owner of the coolest bike in the world, Kaneda must then rescue his friend and prevent him destroying Tokyo.

Rather than a direct remake, Warner Brothers intend to develop two films from the original graphic novel, and controversially transfer the action from neo-Tokyo to a post apocalyptic Manhattan island.

We have reasons for concern.

Hollywood hasn’t got a great record when remaking Japanese movies, or even transferring Eastern promise to Western audiences. Dark Water and Ringu were poorer versions of their previous selves.

The Wachowski brothers managed to merge the two cultures well to great success on The Matrix only to ruin it on the sequels. They are currently looking to repeat the trick of the former with Speed Racer. Oh and of course Quentin Tarantino did it well with Kill Bill, but I can’t imagine anyone at Warner Brothers is as immersed in Anime as ‘The Chin’ is with Japanese samurai movies.

Even beyond the Far East international remakes are never Hollywood’s forte, The Vanishing and The Assassin ruined dark thrillers from Europe by including cheery endings, (for a more rewarding experience see Spoorloos and Nikita respectively). Currently the remake to get excited about is Michael Haneke’s Funny Games and that’s only because the man himself is more or less remaking it shot for shot in all its brutal glory.

So why should we get excited about Warner Brothers’ Akira?

Well, to start with, if it’s adapted from the epic six-volume graphic novel there is a wealth of new material that can be explored beyond the original film. This includes a post-Akira timeline desolated city run by Tetsuo and Kaneda.

Then there is the talent attached, which is promising. Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company, Appian Way, producing and according to certain rumours, the man himself is to play Kaneda… wait a second, isn’t Kaneda a 16 year old boy?

The central character of Tetsuo is apparently going to be played by the talented Joseph Gordon-Levitt who proved in Brick he can easily play multi-faceting angsty characters.

Writer Gary Whitta has written sci-fi previously with credits on Futurama and Star Trek: Voyager but his first feature film, The Book of Eli, currently expected in 2008, is still to be tested.

Director and all round cool person (check out his website) Ruairi Robinson is no stranger to sci-fi either, writing, storyboarding, directing, editing, and doing most the visual effects on his Oscar nominated short, Fifty Percent Grey, (which can be watched below).

Time will tell whether the Akira remake will inspire as much as the original. As always though IndieNational will be there to celebrate or commiserate as required.

Colin Scott – Heading down Neo-Tokyo for some ultra-violence.

Indie Newsweek - 25th February 2008 - Death of HD, Fincher's Black Hole and an Americanised Akira

IndieNational reviews the stories grabbing the headlines in the independent film world this week.

This past week the end of HD-DVD was heralded by anguished cries from those who stood next to a Blu-Ray player and plumped for HD. Toshiba, the owners of the technology, have decided to cut their losses in the face of mounting dominance in the HD market by Sony’s Blu-Ray. Scaling back on production will begin immediately and cease all together in March. While this may appear to be in the realms of big business, the end of this competitive technology could have a great impact upon the distribution of Indie films. Healthy competition between technologies breeds an open market, and crucially options for filmmakers and small distribution companies. If you can only go Blu-Ray, then the owners of that technology and also the major Hollywood players, who are already tied into the technology’s success, will hold an uncomfortable sway of the destination of distribution rights for Indie films. Rumblings that HD held benefits in terms of quality for image reproduction are sadly redundant, but let’s see what happens now with smaller companies moving into the high def market. The problems here could run a way deeper than eBay being inundated with auctions for HD-DVD players, and keep your eyes peeled for more on this in the next issue of IndieNational.

Away from the worries of the money men, one of Indie cinema’s most treasured graduates, David Fincher, has announced pre-production on comic adaptation (haven’t they all been made yet?) Black Hole. The plot of the graphic novel by Charles Burns centres on a plague amongst teens in Seattle that is passed on through sexual contact. The problem is that the symptoms of the plague include horn growth (not that kind), skin moulting and second mouths. Now we’re interested. The master of alienation and atmosphere, Fincher appears to have a tale of teenage angst that runs on an imaginative plain away from traditional teen flicks. Add to the mix a script from Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary, and you’ve got a pretty potent mix. No words yet on a cast, but expect a whole host of bright young things getting yucked up in the make up department.

So from the exciting to the worrying. Akira, one of the best loved and most widely seen Manga films of all time has been commissioned as a two part feature by Warner Bros. Can it be done? Should it be done? There’s going to need to be a fairly colossal budget if it is to be successful, and first time Irish director Ruairi Robinson will have a big old task to pull it off. Chucking money at world classics does not always bring success (take a bow The Ring, The Grudge and Vanilla Sky) and here the prognosis is already not good. Fanboy reaction is sure to be fierce, but bet also on something of a backlash from fans of the uniquely Manga style of the film and its place within Japanese pop culture. The film is to be “Americanised”, so expect a toning down of some of the more off the wall elements, and gratuitous interiors at a Wendy’s. Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way are on board as producers, but it appears unlikely that he will be in front of the camera here, despite rumours. Watch this space, and best of luck to you Mr.Robinson.

Huw Baines – trying to avoid a second mouth.

IndieNational Reviews Board

Ahead of IndieNational’s first issue, Reviews Editor Andy Brown explores the murky and competitive world of movie reviews.

Ratings. Reviews. By the very nature of them, they’re subjective. There is no right or wrong mark to award a film (except for giving the S Club Seven movie Seeing Double zero stars). So what we do is find a medium, be it a website, television show or magazine where we trust the reviews. The IMDb is a website where users can log in and have discussions about a plethora of film related topics and give every film ever made a rating. This results in what could be perceived as a more trustworthy rating as it takes into account many opinions and isn’t just the thoughts of a single journalist. As such, the top five user rated independent films are; Pulp Fiction, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, The Usual Suspects, Psycho and Dr Strangelove. Not bad, eh. Especially considering Citizen Kane tops most ‘professionals’ charts. In a similar way website Rotten Tomatoes gives each film an average rating based on the general consensus.

We’ve all seen a film that we loved and skipped excitably to our favourite reviewer, only to have them rip apart said movie. I was particularly upset when one of our fellow film magazines awarded the excellent Charlie Wilson’s War, with Tom Hanks and Phillip Seymour Hoffman a mere three stars out of five. The same magazine went on the award St Trinians the same mark. Well, really. A bad review can cut our bond and trust with a particular writer and magazine.

Personally, I am a massive fan of the reviews of Jonathan Ross; he looks at films in a pleasing non pretentious way, and appreciates that a film can be a good film without necessarily being a masterpiece. And, of course, we all hope you will come to trust the reviews of IndeNational magazine.

For our first issue of IndieNational there was a debate over whether the rating system should be out of five or 10. We have decided to go with 10, on the basis that is gives the people who review films more scope and more information for you, dear reader. For instance, there are many films that could comprise a four out of ten, but if a film is awarded a nine out of ten then you know that it’s something special. If you agree, or disagree with this then make a comment and make your views known!

Like everything else in today’s world, the way that films are reviewed is changing thanks to the digital revolution and citizen journalism, thanks Harry. So watch this space for more information on the IndieNational Podcast, so you no longer have to go to the effort of actually reading. Instead just sit back and let the words wash over you…

Andy Brown – desperately trying to avoid a joke about this being a 10 star blog…

Will Writers’ Strike Agreement Impact Independent Film

With Hollywood’s writers returning to work will independent films remain unsold on the festival circuit?

Last week’s news that the writers’ strike had finished brought sighs of relief across Hollywood. Delayed TV shows and films can now re-commence, the Oscars are well and truly back on track, but most importantly the industry can now start re-cooperate the $1.3bn (£663million) lost during the 100 day strike. But with many commentators believing the strike would be beneficial for independent movies, what will this deal mean for independent filmmaker?

Ahead of the recently finished Berlin Film Festival, many US independent filmmakers and distributors were reported as being optimistic in the climate of the writers’ strike. Marketing types were discussing how distribution companies needed to fill a gap left in the market.

“It seems to me that the market for independent films has been getting progressively worse for many years now,” said Cinemavault’s executive Steve Arroyave before Berlin’s festival, going on to say, “I think with the lack of product due to the writers’ strike, there will be a stronger demand for completed independent films.”

The basis for this optimism wasn’t quite so clear. This year’s Sundance, which many believed would turn into a buying frenzy, saw only $25m splashed out on 17 films – a significant reduction from the $53m spent the previous year.

In the end the Berlin Film Festival was a disappointment but not because of the writers agreeing a deal. Perhaps, as suggested, there simply wasn’t enough decent movies, or safe movies with significant ‘tent-pole’ names attached, be it actors, directors or producers.

Mid-way through the festival many attendees were bemoaning the lack of quality productions and premieres on offer. To make matters worse, the most talked about production was There Will be Blood, which was already Oscar nominated and released in the US. All this considered, there was not a sufficient festival buzz conducive to brokering huge cash deals.

Arthouse Films head of acquisitions and production David Koh told Variety “The strike has not affected international, as far as we can see. The world has become slightly more real and diversified in its tastes.” Possibly explaining the strength of documentaries, (eight were purchased at Sundance), and foreign language films.

Indeed, it is the international market that appears to have taken most advantage of the lack of mainstream US product being made.

So, for independent productions, it is business as usual; the writers’ strike has not affected the industry in any positive way from the evidence.

Time will tell what affect the potential actors’ strike will have on the industry come July, but if independent filmmakers want to capitalise then they may wish to diversify and address the quality of their product.

Colin Scott – Hoping that the writers strike agreement will include the demand for better episodes of Lost.

Indie Newsweek - 8th February 2008 - Sundance, Ledger and Music in the Movies

IndieNational reviews the stories grabbing the headlines in the independent film world this week.

So the behemoth of indie films that is Sundance has come upon us once again and as usual the hype over what will be this year’s Little Miss Sunshine has begun. The biggest cheque was handed out to the interestingly titled Hamlet 2, which was bought by Focus Features for $10 million. While the plot, which sees a high school drama teacher motivate his students by writing a sequel to the Shakespeare play, seems quirky if little ham fisted, the cast gives me some optimism. Steve Coogan hasn’t had much success translating his TV success to the big screen, Around the World in 80 Days was dismal, but when you’re essentially a device for Jackie Chan to riff off in a “zany” manner its hardly surprising. This offers much more promise, Coogan is at his best when he is essentially Alan Partridge in condensed form, and the role of eccentric but well meaning drama teacher Dana Marschz seems to suit him down to the ground, just don’t get me started on his forthcoming Eddie the Eagle biopic…

The other big news this week has been the continuing revelations about the tragic death of Heath Ledger and the impact it will have on his last unfinished work, Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Dr Paranassus. While rumours have been flying about the internet for the last week or so, it seems like we finally have word that it’s going ahead without him, making use of the footage he’s already shot as means of tribute, as you can read about in the latest issue of the mag.

While it’s a fitting tribute I can’t help but be a bit worried about how they are actually going to manage it without it feeling artificial and clumsy. Gilliam needs some success as his last few films have tanked horribly, so he’ll find himself in the awkward position of wanting to pay tribute to his dead star, but not doing so in a way that detracts from the film as a whole.

To end this week, I’d just like to wonder aloud at a worrying trend of music docs and biopics that seem to have taken over our cinemas of late. It started with Ray and Walk the Line but now seems to have ballooned out of control.

In the last few months we’ve had Dylan biopic I’m Not There and Control, the story of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis and soon we’ll have Shine a Light, Martin Scorsese’s documentary about the Rolling Stones. As if that wasn’t enough, it was announced this week that Scorses plans to make a film about Bob Marley due to be released in 2010. But we don’t stop there, oh no, also this week Jesse Martin and Soprano’s star James Gandolfini have been lined up to star in Sexual Healing, Lauren Goodman’s biopic of the last days of Marvin Gaye. If you were reading aloud there and felt the need to pause for breath, I don’t blame you. While all of these films might be great in their own right, if you start flooding the market with anything, even independently made music pictures, then eventually we’re going to get bored of them. I mean, who wants to watch low budget atmospheric horror films anymore?

Josh Gardner – Filling your mind with Romanian comedies is not the recipe for a good nights sleep.