WB Serious About Akira; Looking for Lead Actors

Already hearing the cries, "BUT...THEY'RE NOT JAPANESE!"

Not to excuse this shortlist (It's an oddity, I'll admit), but the setting behind the in-the-works live action Akira films isn’t New Tokyo, but New Manhattan. They're going to aim for young, white leading men as leads Kaneda and Tetuso. I'm sure their names will be changed too. How many white-bred New Yorkers do you know named Tetuso without a speck of Oriental in their blood?

Executives at Warner Brothers are anxiously awaiting word back from the select-few actors presented the script of the Steven Kloves-rewrite which Albert Hughes (one-half of the Hughes Brothers) is expected to direct.

The short-list, according to "TOLDJA," consists of Michael Fassbender, Garrett Hedlund, Joaquin Phoenix, Chris Pine and Justin Timberlake for biker Kaneda and Andrew Garfield, James McAvoy and Robert Pattinson for as Kaneda’s troubled, and psychic-powered, pal-turned-enemy Tetsuo.

The graphic novel and 1988 anime-feature don’t translate itself to the big screen, and most of these guys (ranging from the already-established like Pine to the on-the-verge like Garfield) seem too old. But their sources say the final pick will come from this list. So since they're gearing up to start filming in August, that rules some and leaves others open.

My random picks of who get cast from this shortlist? Hedlund and Pattinson; both are about the same age and don't appear to have anything on the horizon. That said, I'm still having a hard time fathoming that this is legitimately happening.