Gary Oldman (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban) was originally in talks with Warner Brothers to play the Colonel in the upcoming live-action remake of Akira, but according to reports, he was nable to come to a compromise and has turned down the role. But Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai, Inception) is reported to pick it up instead.
Akira is due in 2013 and stars Garret Hedlund and Kristen Stewart (probably).