It seemed like only a matter of time. With Gary Oldman passing on an offer from WB to play Colonel Shikishima in their Akira re-make, Ken Watanabe's name was sure to come up among the list of names on casting lists.
Aside from anime/manga purists protesting the remake's white-washing of the seminal Japanese classic, Watanabe was almost assured to get an offer of some type. He is easily one of the most well recognized Japanese actors working within the Hollywood studio system (although he does still act in his native Japan). Watanabe has starred roles in Inception, Letters from Iwo Jima and The Last Samurai (which earned him a Best Supporting Actor nomination).
Granted, this is still in the offer stage and means nothing until Watanabe responds but it's safe to say that if anybody was going to fill this offer vacated by Oldman, Watanabe is a fine choice.
While we wait to see if 'Beat' Takeshi Kitano gets some sort of offer, we'll turn it over to you movie and anime fans (who've been vocal since this remake got greenlit) on what you think of this offer.
