By The live-action remake of Akira has been kind of dead since the beginning of 2012 due to script/budget issues. Recently, some storyboard art emerged from Albert Hughes’s abandoned production of the film, and a lot of it looks faithful in design and spirit to Katsuhiro Otomo’s manga. Storyboards may not be indicative of a finished film, but at least these show that Hughes and his team had their hearts in the right place. (Comics Alliance notes that the Hughes film would have drawn more from Otomo’s manga rather than the 1988 anime adaptation.)
The first set of storyboards showed up at the beginning of the week courtesy of artist Jeffrey Errico. They depict the opening title sequence for the film, which sticks somewhat close to Otomo’s manga. More art popped up in the middle of the week from artist Chris Weston (The Twelve, The Filth, 2000 AD).
Check out the storyboards in the gallery. The first seven are from Errico’s opening sequence, the second batch is from Weston.
[Jeffrey Errico via Comics Alliance; Chris Weston via Comics Alliance]