Over a year ago, we told you that Allen Hughes and Albert Hughes (Book of Eli) had been hired by Warner Bros. to direct a live-action adaptation of Akira, the graphic novel by Katsuhiro Otomo. Iron Man screenwriters Hawk Ostby and Mark Fergus penned the original script with Gary Whitta. 

We then brought you a report back in March of this year about Warner Bros. eyeballing Robert Pattinson, Andrew Garfield and James McAvoy for the role of Tetsuo, and Garrett Hedlund, Michael Fassbender, Chris Pine, Justin Timberlake and Joaquin Phoenix being considered for the role of Kaneda.

Now, THR reports that Keanu Reeves (47 Ronin) is now reportedly the front-runner to play Kaneda, a role that both Brad Pitt and Ryan Gosling have reportedly passed on already. Steve Kloves previously signed on to do a rewrite of the Hawk Ostby, Mark Fergus and Gary Whitta penned script. The story takes place in a rebuilt New Manhattan, where the leader of a biker gang (Kaneda) saves his friend from a medical experiment.

Production is set to start in August, and Akira is slated to hit theaters in 2012.