The Hughes Brothers, once again on the A-list after the success of The Book Of Eli–which pulled in around $150 million dollars worldwide–were offered Akira, based upon the anime by Katsuhiro Otomo.

According to Vulture, Keanu Reeves is considering starring in the film, and while I think that he is too old, if the ages of the characters in the anime are used for reference–that’s not the point of this post.

The point is that this film is supposedly going to cost $230 million dollars.

TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY MILLION DOLLARS.  That’s 230 followed by six 0’s.

I bring up Avatar by way of comparison because that film pulled in $2 billion dollars worldwide, but was directed by James Cameron, who’s last film was Titanic, the highest grossing film of its time.

Avatar also employed state-of-the-art 3D technology (some of which was invented just for that film).

And let’s not forget a marketing blitz my Twentieth Century Fox.

The (estimated) budget for Akira also scares me because I am unaware of any other African-American directors being offered a film that’s so expensive, with a budget so large there’s the potential that the film will never be profitable (though what makes a film profitable seems to change based upon whom you ask).

Part of me is glad that the Hughes Brothers have such an opportunity put before then, while the other part is wondering if they are setting upon a task that by definition is doomed to fail.