Akira Seeks Captain Kirk, Professor X, Edward Cullen, Magneto, Spider-Man, and More for Lead Roles
Posted 03.22.11 by Ryan
Screenwriter Steve Kloves, who worked on seven of the eight Harry Potter movies, was brought in to polish the script for the upcoming live-action adaptation of Akira, Warner Bros. is looking to cast the two leads of the movie.
Based on the popular, Japanese manga series by Katsuhiro Otomo, follows Shotaro Kaneda, the leader of a biker gang in a dystopian Tokyo, who has to stop his best friend Tetsuo Shima after he gains psychic abilities that slowly send him over the edge. Akira was adapted into the, now classic, animated version in 1988.
According to Deadline, Robert Pattinson (Twilight), Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) and James McAvoy (Wanted) have been given the script for the movie in an effort to cast one of them in the role of Tetsuo. McAvoy and Garfield are already linked to two comic book franchises with X-Men: First Class and The Amazing Spider-Man, respectively, while Pattinson would obviously bring in a legion of female fans after appearing as Edward Cullen for five movies.
In the role of Kaneda, the report claims that Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy), Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class), Chris Pine (Star Trek), Justin Timberlake and Joaquin Phoenix were all given scripts. Mixing and matching actors from those groups would set up familiar pairings, with Fassbender and McAvoy appearing in the upcoming X-Men: First Class, while Timberlake and Garfield worked together in The Social Network.
Deadline says that Akira's two leads are "expected to come from that group of actors," which could mean that the previously rumored actors like Zac Efron aren't in the running.
Directors Albert and Allen Hughes (The Book of Eli) have been attached to the movie since February of last year, and Leonardo DiCaprio is producing the movie through his Appian Way production company. Akira is set to arrive in two movies, with each one tackling three volumes of Otomo's six-volume series. Production is set to start in August.