Kristen Stewart Offered Female Lead in Akira

files/pictures/picture-35.jpgWarner Bros. is quickly casting up its adaptation of Katsuhiro Otomo's seminal manga AKIRA. Twitch [1] now reports that Kristen Stewart has been offered the female lead Kei. She would star opposite Garrett Hedlund, Gary Oldman and Helena Bonham Carter.

The story follows a biker gang leader who tries to save his best friends from a government experiment designed to unleash people's psychic abilities.

Jaume Collet-Serra (UNKNOWN) will direct the $90 million production. Gary Whitta, Albert Torres and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby all took cracks at the script. HARRY POTTER's Steve Kloves penned the most recent draft.

Appian Way's Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson Killoran and Mad Chance's Andrew Lazar are the producers.

Production is scheduled to begin late February/early March.

Previously, Ruairi Robinson and Albert Hughes both flirted with directing the film, but dropped out over creative differences.