News that Warner Bros. is planning back-to-back AKIRA films just broke yesterday and already today we have word on who might be starring in the film. Ain't It Cool is reporting that Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon-Levitt will star in the film as Kaneda and Tetsuo respectively. If true (and AICN says they had this scoop last week some time) it's pretty impressive casting for a first-time director. Just yesterday it was announced that Ruairi Robinson would make his feature directorial debut on two AKIRA films based on the manga series. My biggest worry in a live-action AKIRA film was always the casting of Tetsuo. It's such a tough role for a young actor and I wasn't sure there were many young actors who could pull it off. But Gordon-Levitt is one guy who I really think can make it work and playing off DiCaprio should be something special to watch. Of course one of the biggest stars of the film will be the extensive CGI, which will be needed to create a post-apocalyptic Manhattan and especially Tetsuo's denouement. I'm actually hoping that Warner Bros. is able to get Robinson, DiCaprio and Gordon-Levitt to make an appearance at Comic-Con this year to kick this sucker off propa like... DiCaprio is currently filming SHUTTER ISLAND for Martin Scorsese while Gordon-Levitt works on GI JOE for Paramount.
Extra Tidbit:
The actor who voiced Tetsuo in the American version of AKIRA is also the voice of Leisure Suit Larry.
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2:11AM on 02/23/2008