Ken Watanabe offered the role of The Colonel in Akira; What about Gary Oldman??

If you went solely on Warner Brothers' choices in who they've tried to cast, you might think they've forgotten that Akira is actually based on a manga. As in it's Japanese. No, I'm not going to be one of those folks screaming about the Hollywood "white wash", as it's been no secret that this is meant purely as an American remake. But it would be nice to see at least one Japanese person in one of the major roles, right?

That wish might be granted sooner than we think, as Twitch are now reporting that Ken Watanabe(The Last Samurai) has been offered the role of The Colonel in the film directed by Jaume Collet-Serra(Unknown). As you might recall, Watanabe's Batman Begins co-star, Gary Oldman was offered this role a couple of weeks ago, but it appears they were unable to strike a deal. Helena Bonham Carter, Kristen Stewart, and a host of up 'n coming male actors are circling parts in the sci-fi film right now. The only one confirmed at this point is Tron: Legacy star, Garrett Hedlund, playing rebel leader Kaneda.

Oldman would be my personal choice for the role, as the Colonel is a mean, insane sonuvabitch. Basically he's the type of character Oldman would nail with ease. Watanabe is one of my favorites, though, and could do the part just as well. He'd just bring something different to the character, is all. He may have the inside track, also, having just worked with Warner Brothers in Christopher Nolan's Inception.