James Franco is in talks to star as the lead role Kaneda in the live action feature-film Akira, JustJared.com has exclusively confirmed.
The flick will be based off of anime artist Katsuhiro Otomo’s six-volume cyberpunk manga (Japanese word for comics). The film is set in New Manhattan, where the leader of a biker gang saves his friend from a medical experiment.
Warner Bros. has tapped director Albert Hughes (The Book of Eli) to helm the project, along with Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company Appian Way.
James Franco’s name is being thrown around with every movie being produced this year so why not include it in something that’s been gestating in production since the 90’s? If including his name helps make this movie a reality then I’m all for it… but I don’t think I’d realistically want to see him starring as Kaneda. They could, and probably should, get an actual Asian person in the role instead as to not upset fans of the 80’s anime.
