A live-action adaptation of Akira has been in the works since, like, forever over at Warner Bros., with various directors attached to the sci-fi project since 2002. Now, the most recent rumor making the rounds is that the studio wants Fast & Furious and Star Trek Beyond Justin Lin to helm the movie.

One of the earliest filmmakers who was set to work on the project was Ruairi Robinson (BlinkyTM, The Last Days of Mars), who was already knee-deep in hammering out the movie when the project was turned back to the studio, and handed over to Albert and Allen Hughes.

Robinson’s live-action version of Katsuhiro Otomo’s Japanese post-apocalyptic cyberpunk sci-fi manga would have been set in New Manhattan (instead of Neo-Tokyo), where the movie would’ve followed the leader of a biker gang (Kaneda) who must rescue his friend Tetsuo from government medical experiments when it’s discovered he possesses destructive psychokinetic abilities.

The concept art below plucked from Ruairi Robinson’s official site imagines Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tetsuo and Chris Evans as Kaneda. It also offers a look at what Neo-New York would have looked like in the movie. So dig in, and let us know what you think. Would you have loved to have seen Robinson’s version of the movie?

(via Bloody-Disgusting)