Since the rumor that Zac Effron was in talks to play Kaneda hit, we have had several more actors churned up, some of them by the rumor mill and some with genuine ties to Warner Bros live action adaptation of Akira. Now The Hollywood Reporter reveal that the latest big name in connection with the lead role is Keanu Reeves..
Actors ranging from James Franco and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to Robert Pattinson and Michael Fassbender have circled the project in some form or fashion as the studio sought to find an A-list lead.
Now comes word that Reeves has held talks with the studio, with whom he already made the massively successful Matrix movies, for the part of Kaneda, the gang leader. Reeves doesn't yet have an offer for the role, but we hear the talks with his reps have been going well.
Now, word is that this is very early days and may of course not happen. But one thing is for sure, WB have done away with any notion of keeping these characters teenagers...or even relatively young men! Accept that, and how does Reeves look as Kaneda? Well, I actually think the man can be pretty good sometimes and all you need do is look at The Matrix to see what a great sci-fi leading man he can be. But I dunno about this. If he is cast, and you still give a damn about this movie, who would make a good Tetsuo?
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Mark Cassidy is a writer, photographer, amateur filmmaker, and Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic from Dublin, Ireland.