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Ken Watanabe Offered The Colonel In 'Akira'
On and on the casting mill churns for the live-action remake of 'Akira.' In addition to the recent news that Kristen Stewart was in talks to play Kei, it was reported that Gary Oldman had also been offered a role. The role turned out to be that of The Colonel. Well now it seems Oldman is off the project and the role of The Colonel has been offered to Ken Watanabe ('Batman Begins,' 'Inception'). Seeing as 'Akira' is a Warner Brothers production, the studio that has produced almost all of Watanabe's American films, one wonders why this didn't come about sooner. Once again, this casting is far from set in stone. WB and Watanabe are currently just in negotiations.
It seems odd to be excited that a Japanese actor might be occupying a role in 'Akira,' the live-action version of an anime. But with the remake's apparent tendency toward whitewash, this is legitimately surprising. And while it may be a convenience move on Warner Brother's part, and even if they've put no further thought into casting Watanabe than the fact that they've worked with him before, the man is a terrific actor and it would benefit the project to have him aboard. Say what you will about 'The Last Samurai,' but Watanabe was sensational in it. His parts within his collaborations with Christopher Nolan were considerably smaller, but he still delivered with gusto. Now let's just hope THIS deal holds up.
Source: Twitch
Comment
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Comment by David Riddell on November 28, 2011 at 7:06pm -
I hope this deal doesn't go through. I hope that good actors stay as far away from this as possible. The script was so bad that Keanu Reeves turned it down. The studio just needs to let this project die.
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Comment by Gift of the Magi on November 27, 2011 at 6:09pm -
@HULLDUCK: Pal, look at the DAMNED TITLE OF THE FILM! This is a japanese story, PERIOD.
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Comment by Trent on November 27, 2011 at 2:24pm -
Hullduck your an Idiot
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Comment by HULLDUCK on November 26, 2011 at 1:23pm -
Whitewash?? Seriously? How stupid do you have to be to even think that. It's an american remake - not a japanese live-action film. Why would they go out of their way to find a bunch of asians to act in an american remake. It's not like they're going out of their way to grab all white actors - as shown by this move; it's just who is available, who is interested, and who they think can do a good job in the part. Fucking get over yourselves people.
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Comment by Happy Birthday Roboto on November 25, 2011 at 5:14pm -
@Vyce
Yeah I have to agree with you on that, even if my girl read Watchmen she wouldn't understand it, she looks like a model but she's as dumb as a block of wood!
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Comment by Vyce Victus on November 25, 2011 at 3:29pm -
I feel what you're saying, Roboto. Although, if your GF doesnt want to read one of the most renowned works of modern fiction just because of some stupid movie, something tells me she isn't the kind of person who'd dig it in the first place. And I think that's the key to this whole thing; This movie isn't for "us", the fandom that represents a fraction of a percent of the population. Its for the common everyday viewer to see explosions, motorcycle chases, and "future stuff" that will hopefully make a hit on opening weekend.
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Comment by Darth_Siskel on November 25, 2011 at 10:46am -
I resent that cartoon parody. The leader of the Clown Gang in Akira was black...so there!
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Comment by Timmy Cupcakes on November 25, 2011 at 10:08am -
From what I remember of the original film, the colonel was not a villain at all. He may have been working against Tetsuo much of the movie, but always out of concern for the general public. I love Ken Watanabe, and he seems like he would be a great fit for this role. Not sure how they would work him into the character, since he does speak with a pretty heavy accent and this character would most likely be part of the American military in this remake.
As far as "whitewashing" goes, I have always felt that people overreact far too much when this happens. The two latest examples of America "whitewashing" Japanese material are prime examples. Can anyone here honestly tell me that DBZ and The Last Airbender would have been good movies if they had Japanese casts? These movies suffer from terrible, lazy writing.
The concept of Akira, and much of the visuals could be adapted into a workable story. If they cast good actors, regardless of race, along with the right script, this could be an entertaining movie. And let’s not forget that the story will be taking place in the future, so they can change the American backdrop quite a bit to closer match that of the anime film. Personally, I just really want to see the motorcycle scenes from the beginning of the original, which could be done pretty badass in live action.
And hell, if this movie sucks, we will always have the original.
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Comment by Happy Birthday Roboto on November 25, 2011 at 8:59am
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@mst3k4evur
Speaking for myself, I specifically said that it's not overtly racist, it just feels wrong. By the way, Darth Vader is a white man, I've never thought of him as black.
@Vyce Victus
Life isn't that black or white (no pun inteded) if the new version of this film is made and it's terrible, it will deter people from reading or watching the original, my girlfriend won't read Watchmen because she saw the film!
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Comment by Vyce Victus on November 25, 2011 at 3:32am
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People need to chill the fuck about this movie "raping the source material" and "ruining the original".
There are a lot of points to this, but this writer lays it down better than I ever could: http://twitchfilm.com/news/2011/10/on-why-crying-about-remakes-is-a...
The whole whitewashing thing is surely a valid concern, though I guess it depends on how much being Asian is integral to this adapted screenplay; it remains to be seen. Even if the worst happens (i.e. it comes out bad or worse than Airbender or Dragonball), the original film and manga will still exist in all their glory. And if you were to say "no one will want to see the original DVD if they know its related to a shitty movie", that really wont be the case. The Airbender and DBZ series didn't suffer irrevocable blows to their "artistic integrity" from their adapted movies, did they? No, it was just a couple shitty movies. That's it. Nothing more.
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