By the time the Tom Cruise-starring “Edge of Tomorrow” will likely clear the $100 million domestic box office threshold, it will have been in theaters for two months. Yet despite the underperformance stateside, the film is doing very well overseas with grosses adding up to $261 million. The international box office—which is responsible for nearly 3/4 of the film’s worldwide haul—may explain why Warner Bros. is looking at one of the writers of the Doug Liman-helmed film to take a crack at another beloved Japanese property.
Deadline reports that Dante Harper has been tapped by the studio to write a new draft of the long-gestating remake of “Akira.” It’s interesting to note that Harper doesn’t have an official writer’s credit on “Edge of Tomorrow”—or any official writing credits—as a trio of other writers were awarded the credit instead.
As for the movie, it’s been something of a thorn in the paw for the studio. In early 2012 with production nearly ready to go, Warner Bros kiboshed plans and almost immediately started looking for a new screenwriter. “Non-Stop” director Jaume Collet-Serra was brought on to helm (though it’s not clear if he’s still attached), and presumably the approach is still the same for the redo, relocating the action to New Manhattan, and adapting books 1-3 of the manga. But the question is whether or not WB can crack the ambitious material, with a budget that makes sense (one of the reasons the earlier movie was canned). What do you folks think?