10 Highly Anticipated Movies That Just Aren't Happening

5. The Hughes Brothers'/Jaume Collet-Serra's Akira

Akira

Description: Tetsuo, member of Neo Tokyo's biker gang The Capsules, is accidentally discovered to have psychic powers. Or, you could just go by the Cliff's Notes version: TETSUO! KAAA-NEEE-DAAAAA! Psychic explosions and catharsis. Why It's Not Happening: Ultimately budget concerns were what killed this beast, as Warner Brothers wasn't comfortable with the money they'd be spending on what was already shaping up to be a bad idea. Neo Tokyo became Neo Manhattan, characters were re-written as Caucasians, and the film was angling to be a multi picture PG13 opus. A LOT of talent was considered for this film, with names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken Watanabe, Kristen Stewart, Garrett Hedlund, and Gary Oldman being thrown around this film. The Hughes Brothers were originally set to direct, but left after a creative falling out with Warner Brothers, leaving Jaume Collet-Serra to pick up the project. The Last Word?: It's on hold as of 2012. If You Really Want To See It...: ...I hear there's a great Anime version available on the market.
 
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Contributor

Mike Reyes may or may not be a Time Lord, but he's definitely the Doctor Who editor here at What Culture. In addition to his work at What Culture, Mr. Reyes writes for Cocktails and Movies, as well as his own personal blogs Mr. Controversy and The Bookish Kind. On top of that, he's also got a couple Short Stories and Novels in various states of completion, like any good writer worth their salt. He resides in New Jersey, and compiles his work from all publications on his Facebook page.