Warner Brothers has given an official greenlight to its live-action remake of the anime hit Akira. The studio is expected to begin production on the film in February/early March 2012 with previously reported Jaume Collet-Serra still attached to direct, Variety reports:
Set in New Manhattan, the cyberpunk sci-fi epic follows the leader of a biker gang who must save his friend, discovered with potentially destructive psychokinetic abilities, from government medical experimentats.
The project has been budgeted at $90M, which is well below an initial figure that was more than $100M. In casting news, Variety says that the studio is eying Garrett Hedlund (“Tron: Legacy”) for the lead role of Kaneda.
