Rumor du jour: Zac Efron in talks for Akira?

I wouldn’t post this if it was a tabloid-induced OMG MILEY CYRUS IS BATGIRL rumor, but this is somewhat more plausible. Slashfilm reports that they’ve heard that Zac Efron is in talks for the lead in Albert Hughes’ live action AKIRA project, though it’s far from a “done deal.”

There are few geek properties more beloved than the classic AKIRA, and I’m just waiting to hear what fan reaction would be to even a rumor like this, much less if it actually came to pass. I don’t think Efron is automatically disqualified from being a serious actor just because of his High School Musical days, but could he ever pull this off?

Most will remember that at one point, Leonardo DiCaprio was heavily involved in this project, and was likely going to be playing street biker Kaneda, with talk of Joseph Gordon-Levitt as his psychic powered pal Tetsuo.

But that was a long time ago, and the project has “evolved” a lot since then, if you can call it that. Would Efron possibly work here or would that be the worst casting decision in history?