Ken Watanabe Offered The Part Of The Colonel In ‘Akira’?

Hot on the heels of news that Gary Oldman has passed on the part of The Colonel in Jaume Collet-Sera’s (Unknown, Orphan) upcoming live-action adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo’s acclaimed 6-volume graphic novel ‘Akira.’ Twitchfilm tpday bring word that Warner Bros have now offered the part to Ken Watanabe. The Colonel is the military leader assigned to take down Tetsuo once they realize he may have enormous power.

Previous reports have Helena Bonham Carter, Kirsten Stewart and Garrett Hedlund linked to the film. The role linked to Kirsten Stewart is Kei, a young medium who becomes the love interest for Kaneda – the role offered to Garrett Hedlund. Helena Bonham-Carter has been offered Lady Miyako. The likes of D.J. Cotrona, Logan Marshal Green, Toby Kebbell, Richard Madden, Rami Malek, Michael Pitt, Paul Dano and Alden Ehrenreich are all apparently testing for the role of Tetsuo, a young man whose latent powers will release the powerful being known as Akira. The cyberpunk sci-fi epic moves from Neo-Tokyo to a rebuilt New Manhattan where a leader of a biker gang saves his friend, discovered with potentially destructive psychokinetic abilities, from government medical experiments.