It feels like just last week that we found out that the live action adaptation of Akira had received a director and the greenlight to enter production and this week we’re discovering possible casting choices for some prime roles in the movie.

Source: /Film

We heard last week that Garrett Hedlund (TRON: Legacy) was the frontrunner to star as Kaneda, and now it looks like a couple of other actors have been tapped as well. According to a new report, Gary Oldman and Helena Bonham Carter have been offered roles in the film…
Twitch writes that Oldman has been offered the part of the Colonel, while Bonham Carter is considering an offer to play Lady Miyako. The 1988 sci-fi original revolved around two teenage boys, one of whom is discovered to have destructive psychokinetic abilities. The Colonel leads a government team that runs tests on potentially psychic subjects, while Lady Miyako is a former test subject and Kaneda’s ally. (She was reduced to a minor appearance in the anime adaptation of the manga.)

I have to admit that I like the possibility of these casting choices. I am on the side of those who are apprehensive about an adaptation to the balls out crazy story that comprises Akira, but I do like the idea of assembling the best possible talent for any project. I really don’t at all like the idea of Hollywood adapting this movie, mostly because I still have nightmares about DragonBall Evolution, but I always hope that a movie exceeds my expectations regardless of the source material. Akira is, (barely), not an exception to my hope that we can get a quality movie out of this adaptation but I’m expecting strong changes to the original story. Hollywood just doesn’t like direct adaptation of geek stuff like Anime and I don’t foresee them bucking the trend of changing things around just because we all love Akira more than the normal Anime.

Again, I like these casting possibilities but I’m keeping my expectations low. Very, very low.