Dicaprio Slated to Play Live Action ‘Akira’

I’m not sure whether to be excited or really nervous about how this is going to turn out, but Leonardo DiCaprio and Warner Bros. are making a live action version of the anime classic Akira.

DiCaprio’s Appian Way will produce the film with Rauiri Robinson on tap to direct. Robinson was a 2001 Oscar nominee for best animated short. Warner is planning at least two films based on the iconic anime which is largely credited with starting the genre explosion in the West.

DiCaprio will play Kaneda, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt rumored to play Tetsuo. The film’s post-nuclear war Neo-Tokyo setting is being changed to Neo-Manhattan, presumably to make it more relatable to American moviegoers. Sigh. Hollywood these days would probably think Casablanca would be more relatable if it were set in Los Angeles.