class=”alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-112467″ title=”Akira_bike” src=”https://www.heyuguys.com/images/2011/10/Akira_bike-220×150.jpg” alt=”” width=”220″ height=”150″ />After years of rumours it looks like we’re finally going to get a live-action remake of the acclaimed 1988 Japanese animated movie Akira, as Warner Brothers give the go-ahead for a $90 million production to be directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (House of Wax, Unknown).
Talk regarding a Hollywood remake of Akira – which follows the leader of a bike gang as he attempts to save his friend from being involved in a secret government project related to powerful psychokinetic abilities – has been ongoing since at least the early 90s when Sony Pictures were said to be working on an adaptation. Ever since Warner Brothers acquired the rights for Akira from the publisher of the original manga series in 2008 the rumour mill has been working overtime reporting possible stars, with everyone from Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Justin Timberlake, Chris Pine, Zac Effron and Keanu Reeves said to be in talks for the lead role of Shotaro Kaneda.
With the news that production is finally moving forward under Collet-Serra’s direction, and with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way producing, we also hear that Garrett Hedlund, best known for his role as Sam Flynn in last year’s Tron: Legacy, might be close to signing on as Kaneda. While the names of the characters will undoubtedly change to reflect the western actors involved, Hedlund’s experience on Legacy’s light cycles will undoubtedly stand him in good stead should he find himself climbing aboard Kaneda’s iconic motorcycle.
Filming on Akira is expected to start sometime in February or March 2012.
Source: Variety.
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