The latest issue of Production Weekly indicates that young actor Zac Efron has been offered the starring role in Akira.

We last reported on this Warner Bros. project back in February, when we learned that The Hughes Brothers (Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes) were directing. Albert Torres is writing the new screenplay for the Anime adaptation, which is a remake of the 1988 classic Akira. Here's a plot description for the remake from Production Weekly:

"Neo-Tokyo has risen from the ashes of World War III to become a dark and dangerous megalopolis infested with gangs and terrorists. The government seethes with corruption and only maintains a token control over the powerful military that prevents total chaos and hides the secrets of the past. Childhood friends Tetsuo and Kaneda plunge into Neo-Tokyo's darkest secret when their motorcycle gang encounters a military operation to retrieve an escaped experimental subject. Tetsuo, captured by the military, is subjected to experiments that make him a powerful psychic, but, unfortunately for Neo-Tokyo, Tetsuo's powers rage out of control and he lashes out at the world that has oppressed him! Nothing can stop the destructive forces that Tetsuo wields except possibly the last boy to destroy Tokyo."

Leonardo DiCaprio is producing the movie through his Appian Way company. Andrew Lazar, Jon Jashni and Jennifer Davisson Killoran are also producing.