Is the live-action Akira flick dead on arrival, or is it not? As we previously reported, there were plenty of directors under consideration for the project, but now, director Jaume Collet-Serra (Orphan, Unknown) has agreed to helm the long-gestating remake.

As noted in Variety, Collett-Serra seems to be a sure-fire bet to direct the live-action adventure. Since his directorial debut with the horror film House of Wax, he has successfully taken on a range of increasingly large-scale projects, while remaining frugal to the studio's budget. Warner Bros. is spending $90 million to bring Akira to the masses and is looking at it as an affordable tentpole.

We still have zilch to report for casting info, but based on what we've said before, manga/anime fans still have to be prepared for actors who are (a) white and (b) older than the characters in either previous incarnation of the story. Steve Kloves' (The Harry Potter series) scripting has proven that he can condense material well, but can Jaume Collet-Serrra interpret the cyber-punk plot and layered themes and make it look bad-ass on screen?

[via Variety]