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Kristen Stewart is in advanced talks for the female lead Kei in director Jaume Collet-Serra’s epic Akira, based on Katsuhiro Otomo’s six-volume graphic novel. Twitchfilm reported midday Tuesday that Stewart had been offered the part. She would join Garrett Hedlund, who has the male lead Keneda. Gary Oldman will play the Colonel. Akira has been a high priority for Warner Bros ever since the studio acquired it with Legendary Pictures two years ago from manga publisher Kodansha. The intention has been to make two films, each covering three books in the series. Akira was first adapted for the screen in 1988. Stewart Andrew Lazar is producing with Appian Way’s Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran.
Kristen Stewart In Talks For Role Of Kei In Jaume Collet-Serra’s ‘Akira’
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Are they going to explain in the plot why they’re casting a bunch of white people that look like they’re from Idaho for these roles with Asian sounding names?
Amen…
It’s dumb as hell Box Office wise to cast all Caucasian. HELLOOOOOO, Fast Five with an Asian from Tokyo Drift, part blacks, full blacks, Hispanics and ONLY ONE Caucasian guy just made the most money in Universal Studios history!!!!!!
Umm, America is no longer predominately white and of course the rest of the world is not white. Therefore, it’s as dumb as hell to go with a mainly white cast in 2011. However, I’m talking about being smart about ticket sales. All white casts Alienate ticket sales these days.
THANK YOU.
I second that…just like the Angelina Jolie casting as Cleopatra…
Are you as dumb as you sound? Cleopatra was of Greek ethnicity. I hope you know that the Greeks are Caucasians.
Sorry to disapoint you Kattinroof, she wasn’t white . . . . . .but keep trying.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/4995155/Cleopatra-had-African-ancestry-skeleton-suggests.html
Actually, she a Ptolemy, which would have made her Helenic or Greek, and back then, Helenic dynasties were inbred. The only reason why some people would be inclined to think that Miss Cleo had African ancestry was because she was Egyptian, but nationality and race/ethnicity are not one in the same. Being American doesn’t automatically make someone white.
That said . . . I’m not here for a white washed Akira.
What did we do to deserve this?
They’ll probably also change the names to “Brooke” and “Trey”
Yeah, I find it funny how Hollywood consistently whitewashes America. Like whenever I watch a film that’s supposed to be set in Vancouver, LA, SF, or New York, they must actively pick all the Asians off the street (and the Hispanics) to make these cities look white!!! I think SF is around 32% Asian! Yet they show the streets of SF in most films as having NO Asians! How is that possible????
Are they suppose to be Japanese or does it take place in the US?
No… I don’t think this is the thing for her. And I like KS.
i like her, be good to see her work with Gary Oldman – do they have scenes together?
This movie is going to lose all context when set in America and played by white actors. Is Hollywood THIS desperate for story ideas? Christ.
Hollywood racelifting continues…
Kristen Stewart also stars with Garrett Hedlund in the highly anticipated Walter Salles’ On the Road due out next year.
Kristen will win an Oscar….Best actress ever
Lol
If by Kristen, you mean Kristen Scott-Thomas, then yes – best actress ever. Otherwise as talented as the youthful Stewart is she’s a long way from such praise. Dear lord.
Well done! I just find her unbearable to watch ….
marie, she is even more unbearable during her interviews. I don’t see her appeal. But, I am not a teenage girl.
Another movie to avoid. Maybe, one day, Hollywood will hire actors that can act.
Hmmm, I guess her team has her scared about her post-Twilight prospects. Five minutes ago she was Miss Independent Films and wanted a break after Snow White. Can’t blame her for cashing in, she hasn’t really impressed so far and outside of Twilight her box office is dismal.
So…are they going to have any Japanese actors in Akira? Maybe a sort-of-Asian looking extra or two? For God’s sake, it’s AKIRA!
When was she Miss Independent Films? She started in Panic Room, made movies like Zathura and The Messengers. It’s all about finding good people to work with. Steve Kloves’ screenplay, promising director in Collet-Serra, DiCaprio producing, acting with Gary Oldman (and maybe Helena Bonham Carter), sounds good to me. It should be treated as any other foreign-language remake and tweak the story as needed.
“It should be treated as any other foreign-language remake and tweak the story as needed”…remake being the operative word…where the fuck is the original stuff…
Exactly. Is Hollywood this desperate for ideas that they are incapable of producing any good original films?
I think Ken Watanabe is doing a role…The Colonel?
ugh… hollywood, why??
Well, I like the actors mentioned, but clearly this would have to change settings and not be set in Tokyo. I need to hear more about this; it’s an odd idea for me right now.
She’s awful!!!!! Why???? 5 movies 1 look that’s her. I don’t get it at all
David Carradine!!! Er… Wait, he’s Chinese…. No American? No…. dead.
What a joke…casting a white for an Asian role.
So one Twilight actor told them no so they went to the next in line? If she turns it down, do they go to Lautner for Tetsuo next?
Good one, Carrie….yeah, Hollywood is determined to fuck up these graphic novels. Why even call it Akira anymore when it’s not going to have any resemblance to the source material.
This doesn’t even make good economic sense from the studio’s perspective. Some of the biggest emerging markets for films are Asian countries, so when it comes time to cast a film with a built in Asian audience, they cast white actors?!? It makes NO sense.
Good point. I think it’s in their best interests to just Americanize all the names AND change the title. Anybody who would actually be familiar with the property is expecting blood, guts, and gore that the remake won’t provide. Anyone who isn’t familiar with it is going to be confused by (and possibly turned off by) the Asian names and references. By only Americanizing the story halfway, they’re confusing both groups and giving everyone who got so royally ticked off by the Airbender casting debacle more ammunition.
Don’t do it, Kristen! Run away!!
This movie sounds like crap. Hedlund can’t carry a movie. Akira is nothing but racebending again. Kristen is too good for this. I hope she passes. SWATH is commercial enough for right now.
It’s the other way around. Garrett is too good for her. I’m hoping they offer Kei to someone with better acting skills. Kristen has just ONE expression in all her films. HORRIBLE actress.
They already offered this role to Keira Knightley, and she wisely said no.
well they haven’t said anything about making, The Last Airbender 2 yet? so i guess WB wants to a have flop to.
That’s the only thing I can think of =\ didn’t they learn their lesson already?
Is this still supposed to be split into two films?
The movie will be taking place in Neo New York instead of Neo Tokyo. Gary Oldman isn’t a bad choice…. EBC is a good actress as well…. and that’s where it stops. And yes this will be horrid
Check out the imdb if you are not too lazy. She is primarily an indie actress, who got roped into the Twilight whirl. She doesn’t seem to care about the usual self promotion other starlets in Hollywood engage in. Quite refreshing, really.
…”doesn’t seem to care about the usual self promotion”….You’ve picked the wrong website to try and spoon feed people that bullshit. No one inside the industry is buying that one, so go feed it to some fandom blog. The people that frequent this site actually know better.
As the saying goes…”we’ve been to the puppet show, and we’ve seen the strings”….
She’s a strange one. I know for a fact that she and her team hate that she is in the tabloids and all over the trashy celeb blogs. She’ll be in them until the Twilight crap dies down. At the same time, she is definitely making the moves to be a mainstream actress and out of the indies.
What s joke. She covered nearly all magazine covers. She wants to be in the media. Do you really think that anyone would care about her if her PR team wouldn’t push her down out throats? And sure she’s just doing it till Twilight is over and then she will have Snow White and the game will go on.
…”No one inside the industry is buying that one, so go feed it to some fandom blog. The people that frequent this site actually know better.” What a load of garbage. This industry is spoonfeeding people like Kardashian down your throats. Don’t place yourself in some imaginary pedestal.
Wow you are an angry angry woman. I’m an actress and I’ll tell you something, I’m pretty sure I know the ins and outs alot better than you do and Kristen Stewart is a very professional and highly respected actress. She doesn’t give a shit about self promotion and the ‘hollywood game’. She like most in the business, signs contracts and therefore has certain obligations to promote her films but she isn’t like most her age with not even half her talent. She isn’t photographed coming out of every party in Hollywood or selling her story to the tabloids just to stay in the public eye. She works hard and does her homework when it comes to the characters she has portrayed. You sound very petty and jealous and whats even sadder, you’re probably twice her age. I’m sure if she gets this part she will work very hard to do her best. As actors that is all we can do.
1) If Kristen is a highly respected actress then why isn’t she getting amazing projects? They all go to her rivals which didn’t do Twilight to get famous. But yeah sure, she doesn’t give any shit about Hollywood but she’s wearing the shortest dresses so the media can talk about her legs. She’s moaning about paps following her everywhere but she invited a reporter to her apartment in London and now paps are always making pics of her. She doesn’t want to talk openly about Robert Pattinson but she’s always leaving some gems of him in her interviews instead of just saying no I won’t talk about my private life like every other actor is doing it.
I’m not an actress but I know how a bland face looks like. I don’t have to act for that. Afterall non-actors are watching movies and decide if the actors are good or not.
I hate to dissapoint you, but I’m a man, and I’m not twice Stewart’s age, but in fact, three times her age. As a result, I’ve been doing PR a VERY long time and I recognize the plays, as does anyone involved with the entertainment industry.
Think of it in terms of being a casual fan of football versus the offensive coordinator for the team. The casual fan probably doesn’t recognize any of the formations by name or notice personal fouls unless it’s blatant face-masking, but the coaches know what play is about to happen by which direction the players run from the time of the snap. I’m on the proverbial coaching staff for this kind of stuff.
As I said in my original post, you’d do well to remember which site you’re on when posting this kind of spin because it doesn’t ingratiate Stewart to anyone when she, and her “coaching staff”, try to present her as the only actress in Hollywood who is above it all.
I genuinely like her but this would make two “cash in on the Twilight fans” big budget actiony/love interest PG-13 roles for her in a row. You couldn’t get more commercial. If she is really all about the integrity of the art she’s running in the opposite direction of it. She might as well sign on to every appeal to tween/teen franchises they are putting out there.
Agreed. I don’t hate Kristen at all. But at this point her fans need to stop trying to act like she’s not working her tail off at becoming a mainstream movie star. This would be her third franchise in a row, and the girl’s been on the cover of a good half-dozen fashion mags in the past year. The “indie” and “shies away from the attention” labels really don’t apply anymore.
Don’t those magazine covers have much more to do with the studio wanting to promote Twilight to death?
Hedlund ruins the whole thing. What a terrible project.
Rly? -__- i love Akira, its what got me in to anime and wanting to do animation, but rly an anime based movie no asain actors?? Ill pass, ill wait till its out on dvd n rent it (???)
So they go the director of “House of Wax” to bring AKIRA to life?!? There was no one better?!?
That was his first film.
Since then he’s had a couple hits – Orphan and Unknown [both of which were pretty good films] – and directed the extremely fine pilot for ABC’s The River [part of the network's mid-season schedule].
So, yeah, maybe they could’ve done better – but they could easily have done a lot worse!