Famously adapted as an anime in 1988, Akira will be based on the original manga by Katsuhiro Otomo, depicting a sci-fi cyberpunk dystopia, but will relocate the action to "New Manhattan" rather than "Neo-Tokyo."
Hedlund's involvement is only speculated at the moment, but he would up be for the part of the original story's Kaneda (there is not yet word on whether or not the character names will be changed).
Budgeted at $90 million, Akira could shoot as early as February of next year.