Warner Bros has announced a two-movie live action adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo's six-volume Akira, the first of which will be fast-tracked for a 2009 release, Variety reports.

Each installment will encompass three volumes of the original work, which has already graced the silver screen in a 1988 Otomo-helmed animation. Short film and commercials vet Ruairi Robinson will make his feature directorial debut working from a script by Gary Whitta. Leonardo DiCaprio's production company Appian Way will co-produce, while Otomo keeps an eye on proceedings from the executive producer's chair.

So far so good, but the Times suggests that Akira purists may not be entirely happy with the fact that the story is set in New Manhattan, rather than the futuristic Tokyo of the original Manga classic.

There are as yet no casting details available for the project. ®

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