To say that the live-action adaptation of the anime Akira has travelled a rough pre-production road might just be the understatement of the century. After failing to land its casting wish list, the film recently lost director Albert Hughes (The Book of Eli, From Hell). However, Warner Bros. is still intent to get the project off the ground and has already found Hughes' replacement.
Jaume Collet-Serra, who directed the Liam Neeson-led thriller Unknown, will now take the helm of the feature according to Variety. He started out with the ultimately profitable House of Wax remake, and box-office takes for his films have been consistently improving. Unknown raked in $130 million across the globe.
Warner Bros. likes to develop filmmakers and build long-term relationships (See: Snyder, Nolan, Ritchie, Todd Phillips, etc.), so no surprise here. Collet-Serra was even recently named a candidate to direct 300: Battle of Artemisia, the 300 spin-off set to focus on Xerxes. Now that he'll be busy, that leaves Noam Murro (Smart People) as the only name floating around “Artemisia."