Whoever worked on the VFX/practical for "The Substance" needs to be put on that production ASAP. Spoilers for "The Substance" follow.
The movie is kinda bad overall, but the visual effects for the body horror parts are insane. ESPECIALLY the end. It felt like an intentional mirroring of Akira"s physical transformation, though the plot is quite different. I know the odds of the Akira movie ever seeing daylight anytime within the next decade are low, but man, they really need to link up with the folks behind this movie. And please for the love of GOD tell me Taika Watiti is no longer involved.
Cult classic, it just might get an adaptation. But it will be a bad Netflix adaptation where they change the entire plot of the story to ruin the nostalgia.
3
RazzmatazzLive8018Apr 2, 2026
+2
Netflix would probably turn it into a teen romance where Kaneda and Tetsuo are love interests and Neo-Tokyo is just regular LA with some neon signs
The body horror stuff from The Substance was wild though, that team could definitely handle the mutation scenes if this ever actually happens
2
Dear_Type_8972Apr 2, 2026
+2
You get an update just for wanting rid of Taila. He would be completely tonally wrong for Akira.
Id give it to Takeshi Kitano personally
2
cwatson214Apr 2, 2026
+1
Everything about that 3rd act of the Substance ruined what came before. It was pedantic and regressive and schlocky. The movie would have been better without it.
1
cerberaspeedtwelveApr 2, 2026
+1
Various Hollywood studios have courted the idea of a live action Akira remake for decades. It always gets canned for the same reason: Akira is inextricably linked to the social, political, and popular culture of post-war Japan. Doing an American version would be like trying to adapt American Pie for an Arab culture that doesn't allow pre-marital sex or, indeed, dating.
Chronicle (2012) is probably the closest we will come. It hits a lot of the same story and emotional beats, and it works because it's not trying to be Japanese without any real understanding of the culture.
1
A_Legit_SalvageApr 2, 2026
+1
I need a live action version of Akira about the same way I need a remake of Big Trouble in Little China, which is to say I do not need it at all.
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