EDGE OF TOMORROW Scripter Latest To Be Working On AKIRA

I’m starting to think that the Writers Guild credit arbitration on this is going to be a nightmare.

Warner Brothers has another writer working on their eternally in development live action adaptation of the classic anime Akira. The project is being done in conjunction with Leonardo diCaprio’s Appian Way and has been going through a number of writers and directors in its quest to make it to the big screen. The latest writer to sign on to the film is Dante Harper.

Harper was the first writer on Warners’ Edge Of Tomorrow released earlier this year, as well as the most recent draft of The Last Witch Hunter.

Budget problems have always appeared to be the root of the problem of getting a live-action Akira a reality. Albert Hughes was the first director on the project, but his take was in the very pricey neighborhood of $180 million, When Warners balked, Hughes walked. Collet-Sera had managed to cut the proposed budget in half down to $90 million but the studio still had cold feet and pulled the plug in early 2012 when he couldn’t get the budget down into the $60-$70 million range. After trying to interest a number of other directors in taking over the film, Warners returned to Collet-Sera with an eye towards trying to get to a point where they could agree on a budget for the project.

Via Deadline.