Prepare to relive one of the most influential sci-fi stories ever told. 35 years after UK audiences were first introduced to the cinematic spectacle of Katsuhiro Otomo’s cyberpunk epic Akira, the film is exploding back into cinemas screens, including IMAX, from April 17, 2026.
Rebuilt from the ashes of World War III, Neo-Tokyo is a breathtaking, neon-lit metropolis where lawlessness and corruption run rampant. Racing through its streets are Kaneda and Tetsuo, two delinquents and members of a biker gang. When they crash into a secret government plot and Tetsuo is experimented on, the result is an explosive, mesmerising masterpiece of animation that would change cinema forever.
Watch the film’s trailer in the player below:
July, 1988— World War III breaks loose. Then, in 2019, in megalopolis Tokyo… As the leader of a group of young robust delinquents, Kaneda spent his nights tearing through the urban wastes, racing his motorbike against rival groups. One night while riding with his gang, his friend Tetsuo suddenly encounters a strange boy― the product of human experimentation— and is injured in the ensuing crash. Shortly thereafter, a military squadron appears on the scene to take the boy and Tetsuo away to an army research facility. Determined to free Tetsuo from capture, Kaneda sneaks into the army research lab. However, a regimen of extreme experimental procedures has awakened a new power in his friend, and now he is consumed by madness…
Premiering in Japan in 1988, Akira was released to global audiences in the years that followed, arriving in the UK & Ireland in 1991. The film was a cultural moment that introduced audiences around the world to anime, with The Washington Post declaring Akira “a visceral example of the future of animation” – an assessment proven true by anime’s rise as a global box office force that rivals even Hollywood blockbusters. The film has endured as one of the most influential films ever made, from homages recreating iconic scenes and imagery across pop culture, to the film’s celebrated place as “a vital cornerstone of the cyberpunk genre” (British Film Institute), with renowned film critic Robbie Collin acknowledging “plenty of superb recent blockbusters, including The Matrix, The Dark Knight, Minority Report, Dark City and Inception, are all in its debt”.
Akira releases in IMAX and cinemas in both Japanese with English subtitles, and English dubbed versions, from April 17, 2026.
