Jordan Peele has become my new directing hero with his reasoning behind not directing the live-action adaptation of ‘Akira‘. He recently made his mark with ‘Get Out‘ and will have his pick of Hollywood blockbusters if he plays his cards right so ‘Akira’ could have been a perfect fit. The problem is, he isn’t interested. Warner Brothers needed a director that can capture the humanity and horror in a film which Peele has clearly proven he can do, but they’ll have to continue their hunt.
So why did Peele pass?
“I think [I could do it] if the story justifies it,” Peele said. “AKIRA is one of my favorite movies, and I think obviously the story justifies as a budget as you can possibly dream of. But the real question for me is: Do I want to do pre-existing material, or do I want to do original content? At the end of the day, I want to do original stuff.”
With Hollywood pumping out reboots left and right, even if this is a live-action animated reboot, it’s nice to hear that directors are getting a little sick of this theme as well. ‘Ghost in the Shell’ has also proven that the US box office isn’t too interested in these fresh takes on animated material so if enough visionary directors chime in and don’t take the easy paycheck we might finally be able to see more original content hit the big screen.
From what we hear about Peele’s upcoming work we might not know what he wants to direct next, but he seems to have no issues with novel adaptations as an Executive Producer. He has currently been tapped by J.J. Abrams Bad Robot to help produce HBO’s upcoming series ‘Lovecraft Country’ which should be a natural fit for the director.
Are you glad to hear that Jordan Peele just wants to direct original content or do you think he would have made ‘Akira’ work? Share your thoughts below!
Source: Blumhouse.com
Stuart Conover is an author, blogger, and all around geek. When not busy being a father and husband he tries to spend as much time as possible immersed in comic books, science fiction, and horror! Would you like to know more? Follow him on Twitter!
