Hollywood Reporter: DiCaprio, Warner Bros. in for live-action 'Akira'
Anime classic "Akira" is getting the live-action big screen treatment courtesy of Leonardo DiCaprio and Warner Bros.

Ruairi Robinson has been hired to direct what would ideally be a two-part epic. Gary Whitta is writing the adaptation, which DiCaprio will produce via his Appian Way shingle. Andrew Lazar is also producing via his Mad Chance shingle. Jennifer Davisson, who heads up Appian, will also be involved in some producorial capacity.

"Akira" originated in 1988 as a manga and then as an animated film co-written and directed by Katsuhiro Otomo. The story was set in a neon-lit futuristic post-nuclear war "New Tokyo" in 2019 where a teen biker gang member is subjected to a government experiment which unleashes his latent powers. The gang's leader must find a way to stop the ensuing swathe of destruction.

With its mature themes and cutting-edge animation, "Akira" was a milestone movie in anime and even animation circles, and led the way for anime making inroads into Western pop culture in the 1990s.

"Akira" has long been in development at the company, with producers Jon Peters and Basil Iwanyk involved at various times, as well as directors Stephen Norrington and Pitof. The rights lapsed but Warner managed to re-scoop them again for Robinson, who came to the studio with a vision of a two-part adaptation.

The new story moves the action to "New Manhattan," a city rebuilt by Japanese money.

The studio is eyeing a summer 2009 release for the first movie.

Greg Silverman is overseeing for Warners.

Whitta, repped by UTA and Circle of Confusion, wrote "The Book of Eli," which the Hughes Brothers are directing for Warners and Silver Pictures.

"Akira" would mark the feature directorial debut for Robinson who was nominated for a best animated short Oscar in 2001 for a sci-fi comedy called "Fifty Percent Grey." He also wrote and directed a sci-fi short titled "The Silent City." Robinson is repped by CAA and 3 Arts Entertainment.

Ain't It Cool News: Live-Action AKIRA moves forward... with the King Of The World? PLUS - Exclusive AICN - We Know who Tetsuo is!

Hey folks, Harry here - we had this story, the one about DiCaprio - about a week ago, but while Moriarty was playing with Toshi - we lost the exclusive. Dammit. However, now we have Tetsuo - which isn't as big a name as DiCaprio - but it's a damn fine name. Joseph Gordon Levitt... you know - from BRICK - the upcoming STOP LOSS and G.I. JOE! Joseph is a fine fine young actor - and I'm very much looking forward to watching him opposite Leo. Now - here's Quint with the original story...
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I'm not the anime expert here, but you don't need to be an anime geek to know AKIRA or to get excited about seeing it live action.

I've noticed a trend here... first we had Tobey Maguire get a live-action ROBOTECH movie moving forward, attached to produce and star, and now his buddy Leonardo DiCaprio is doing the same for AKIRA. Some friendly competition maybe? Or maybe this is just the shit that greases their geek-wheels.

Ruairi Robinson, who did that awesome 3-D animated short film FIFTY PERCENT GREY, will make his feature debut directing the project, which was pitched as a two-part epic.

The Hollywood Reporter story doesn't mention DiCaprio doing anything other than producing via Appian Way banner, but I have it on good authority that he is also set to star as the lead, Kaneda.

Whatever happened to the Neon Genesis Evangelion Movie they were planning on making a few years back? Also, I hope I'm not the only one who found the AICN article a pain to read through.

SOURCES: Article 1 and Article 2.