2011 has been the year of the Warner Brothers live-action adaptation finally coalescing into a project with real momentum that, in all likelihood, will get made. With a greenlight and a revised script from one of WB’s favorite scribes, the project has now moved into casting mode and is kicking around some interesting names. Garrett Hedlund of Tron: Legacy fame has been the consistent name this year for playing Kaneda since the studio gave up on a middle aged leading cast when Keanu Reeves walked, but the all-important Tetsuo himself has been a mystery. According to THR, the list of potentials has been narrowed to two actors that will be testing this week: Alden Eherenreich and Ezra Miller.
Both are still relative unknowns, though Miller is poised for a quick upward trek as he stars in We Need To Talk About Kevin and that film is only going to get more attention throughout the end of the year. Eherenreich’s career seems to be at more of a low-boil, but he’s worked with Francis Ford Coppola twice and has a role in the next Chan-Wook Park film, so he’s certainly well positioned to get attention from the right people.
Having just seen and been greatly affected by We Need To Talk About Kevin, it’s hard for me not to pull for Miller on this role. This is the kind of part that would empower his career for many years to come, and it would also be sure to lend the blockbuster some art cred since Miller is such a strong young actor. He’s got a great face for conveying menace and vulnerability, and he’s certainly got the chops for handling both. I’ll be paying attention to whatever projects he next gets involved with, so if that’s an Akira film, so be it…
I’ve made it most clear that I’m not much of an Akira fan, but I like that they’re making this an opportunity to bring up some unknowns rather than forcing names that don’t belong. After all this gestation time, maybe a reasonably classy tentpole adaptation is coming together here…
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(via Latino Review)