Ahhh "Creative Differences". It can mean anything really, but it's generally used when one side is unwilling to budge on something, forcing the other side to hit the bricks. That's apparently what's happened between Warner Brothers and director Albert Hughes, as Deadline reports that he has bailed on helming their live-action Akira
film. Good job, dude. This one was a stinkhole and you were sinking into it.The production has been plagued almost from the beginning. Akira is a massive undertaking, and apparently Warner Brothers was ignorant of this fact because they seemed stunned to find out that it would cost somewhere north of of $150M to pull the whole thing off. The plan was to bring in a pair of hot young actors to fill the two primary roles of Kaneda and Tetsuo, two teen gang members who wind up rivals when one becomes an all-powerful government guinea pig. Names floated at the time consisted of Robert Pattinson, Garrett Hedlund, Justin Timberlake, James McAvoy and more. That made sense. But when it became obvious that a superstar was needed to make the financial stuff work out, WB began courting folks plainly too old for the film. Keanu Reeves(he's like 50 almost!!) was under serious consideration, with Brad Pitt and James Franco thrown out there as well.
Through out all this was Hughes, who at one point argued to be able to cast who he saw fit, but that idea never gained traction. In an effort to reduce costs, Steve Kloves was brought in to do rewrites, but the only writing that mattered was already on the wall, and Hughes bailed.
Even though nobody who either loved Katsuhiro Otomo's original manga or the classic 1988 anime cares whether this film gets made, Warner Brothers isn't slowing down for a second. Apparently they've gone back to the drawing board and are once again seeking younger actors to star. Since that was the original plan it makes me think the reasons for Hughes' leaving stretch beyond casting, but I'm just speculating. By all accounts his departure was an amicable one and he plans to work with Warner Brothers again soon.
