In manga turned movie news we have Katsuhiro Otomo's AKIRA coming it's way to the big screen thanks to Warners and Legendary Pictures (300, Superman Returns, Batman Begins) in a two picture movie deal. Hopefully they'll base it off the manga as the movie while revolutionary and captivating is condensed so much that it's hard to follow (The six books are surprisingly straightforward and anyone who says that the books aren't, simply didn't read them).

As Variety states this isn't the first time Warners have had the rights to AKIRA. I remember a long time ago James Robinson (Golden Age, Starman, Superman) was tapped to write it but nothing ever came out of it.

I'm sure it'll be good enough to not suck but AKIRA is a unique story with a very strong Japanese sensibility. To set this in the US and in "New Manhattan" sounds like a joke honestly. It's like Spielberg's idea to have Harry Potter set here in America -It's a bad idea. While Potter fans can consider themselves lucky to avoid that terrible trap Akira fans won't be so fortunate.

Considering how special effects have evolved in Japan over the years I don't see why they can't make the movie themselves.