Over at the Vulture blog, the identity of the directors Warner Bros has in mind for its live-action version of Akira has become apparent. Akira has been a project that's been bumbling along in development hell for a number of years now, but now - with a screenplay from Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, who penned Iron Man - there are signs that things are moving ahead.

The plan that Warner Bros appears to have is to make two films out of Akira, splitting the six volumes of Katsuhiro Otomo's original story down the middle. If all goes to plan, then Akira Part One will be arriving next year.

And the directors? It looks like Allen and Albert Hughes are leading the chase. Vulture reports that the brothers are in negotiations with Warner Bros now, buoyed, no doubt, by the commercial and critical reaction to their latest project, The Book Of Eli.

Look for confirmation on this shortly, and in the meantime, here's the story at Vulture here...