Deadline.com reports that director Albert Hughes has left Warner Bros.' AKIRA adaptation. The reason is being called creative differences and that Warner is eager to get Hughes onto another project soon.

Warner wants to keep the film a priority. The studio had looked at young actors such as Robert Pattinson, Andrew Garfield, James McAvoy, Garrett Hedlund, Michael Fassbender, Chris Pine, Justin Timberlake and Joaquin Phoenix. However, with the budget blooming, they wanted a big star at the lead and talked with Keanu Reeves, who has since turned down the project.

The film version will be set in a future rebuilt New York where a biker saves his best friend from government experiments.

Andrew Lazar, Appian Way’s Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran are producing.