The Leonardo DiCaprio-produced WB film is set to begin shooting in California.
Taika Waititi is working on the film, wants to cast Asian leads that aren’t very well known. He addressed that it's not a remake:
What I wanted to do was an adaptation of the books, ’cos a lot of people are like, ‘Don’t touch that film!’ and I’m like, ‘I’m not remaking the film, I want to go back to the book.’ A lot of the people freaking out haven’t even read the books, and there are six gigantic books to go through. It’s so rich. But (the anime) Akira is one of my favourite films; my mum took me to see it when I was 13 and it changed my life.

Akira is set to begin filming this July in Los Angeles. WB announced Friday. Akira is set to open opposite John Wick: Chapter 4 on May 21, 2021.
Waititi's Hilter comedy Jojo Rabbit due out Oct. 18, 2019. He also worked with Star War TV series The Mandalorian, which debuts in November.