LOS ANGELES, March 31 — It’s been in development since 2002. Jordan Peele, the comedian who took a hard turn into horror with February’s Get Out, is the latest name linked with a live action adaptation of cult animé and comic book franchise Akira.

Dealing with themes of adolescence and apocalypse, the high tech sci-fi Akira continues to have an impact long after a 1988 animated movie became a cult classic.

Attempts to bring it to an even wider audience as a live-action film have been ongoing since Warner Bros bought the rights to Akira in 2002, but so far none have come to fruition. The nine-year production cycle of this year’s Ghost in the Shell has been positively smooth by comparison.

Now The Tracking Board has Jordan Peele in the frame to direct, according to insider sources at annual studio and theatre owners convention CinemaCon.

Peele broke through as one half of Comedy Central’s sketch show duo Key & Peele. When the show wound down after five seasons, he co-wrote, produced, and co-starred in comedy Keanu, took a role in animated buddy comedy Storks, and then wrote and directed incendiary horror Get Out, which made US$155 million (RM686.2 million) on a US$4.5 million budget. — AFP-Relaxnews