What a way to start the day! Having reported just last night about the list of actors testing for the second of the male co-leads in Jaume Collet-Serra’s upcoming Akira remake, the brilliant casting news surrounding this project is literally getting better every day.

TRON: Legacy’s Garrett Hedlund and The Twilight Saga’s Kristen Stewart have already been offered the leading roles of Kaneda and Kei, respectively, and I think they are both fantastic choices.

News came last month that Warner Bros. had reached out to Gary Oldman for the role of The Colonel, and though the actor was approached and had been talking about the possibility, no firm offer was made.

Twitch now report, via Collider, that none other than the immense Oscar-nominated actor, Ken Watanabe, has been offered the role in place of Oldman. Watanabe is one of, if not the, most recognisable Japanese actor in English language cinema, and I think he would be an impeccable addition to the cast, so I’m really hoping that the offer will go through smoothly.

Though there are no doubt many sceptical of an American remake, especially fans of Katsuhiro Otomo’s original manga and anime, I have really high hopes and expectations for the project, and think that it’s going to be nothing short of immense. The cast so far sounds brilliant, and Watanabe would only be furthering that brilliance.

The actor has worked on some of my all-time favourite films, including Christopher Nolan’s Inception and Edward Zwick’s The Last Samurai, the latter of which earned him his Best Supporting Actor nomination, and being cast in the Akira remake would give us yet another opportunity to see him on the big screen here in the UK, something we don’t often get to do. With two Japanese projects currently in post-production, his schedule is looking open enough to fit Akira into his calendar next year, which would be perfect.

Though at the moment, it’s just an offer that’s been made, I’m staying very optimistic and hopeful that it will become more concrete soon. With production set to begin early next year, Collet-Serra will no doubt want his leading cast confirmed as soon as possible, so we’ll hopefully have more news to bring you soon. Keep your fingers crossed that it’s going to be good news for us and Watanabe.