They are currently planning a re-make of the classic film Akira. This will be made by American Imperialists and is attempting to bring the classic Japanese animated film into the 21st century. But this will not work at all. Akira is a cult classic and butchering it with a Hollywood re-make is not the best idea that anyone has ever had. Firstly we had the Pacific Rim movie which featured giant alien monsters destroying cities, this is a nod to the Godzilla movies as well as the Evangelion series. In the movie, the characters are linked to the giant robots with a sort of mind-meld. This is just like in Evangelion where the characters link with the giant Eva cyborgs and then fight the angels. The Akira movie in a nutshell is one person that has a mental awakening and develops amazing powers which overwhelm him until he is taken to another universe by three other children that themselves have amazing powers. They awaken the godlike Akira child who has the power to open a rift and create another universe to send Tetsou; this way they saved the Earth. I am not sure if a Hollywood re-make could do this movie justice. I have seen the HD copy of this movie and the artwork is amazing for a film made in 1988. But the Japanese animators have a special talent for creating beautiful artwork and Hollywood cannot hope to match this with crappy CGI renderings.
This screenshot shows the amazing artwork that depicts Neo Tokyo in all its glory. Movies these days are not the same. Blade Runner is from 1982 and it still has better visuals than any movie made these days, even without expensive CGI. I guess we should go back to using models instead of CGI like the classic Star Wars movie did in 1977. The opening scene with the giant star destroyer chasing the Millenium Falcon is amazing, without CGI. Akira used hand drawn artwork to render a believable Sci-Fi world, that is better than most other Anime made around that time. There is a gallery of Akira artwork here: http://artofakira.com/portfolio.php. See a slideshow of cels and other artwork here: http://www.flickr.com//photos/67116116@N00/sets/72157623492215997/show/, the concept images are just as good as the finished product. Lets hope that Hollywood cannot re-make this awesome movie into s shitty live-action film and destroy our precious memories. Akira is a piece of history and deserves to stand alone as an unbelievable piece of anime history like Evangelion and Macross. I think Macross was released in Australia as Robotech; that is another Anime that I remember watching on television. And Ghost in the Shell is one that covers cybernetic enhancement and the problems associated with replacing nearly your entire body with a cybernetic prosthetic.
Read more about this possible re-make here: http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Akira-Remake-Back-Jaume-Collet-Serra-Back-Talks-Direct-38819.html.