The film is set to begin production in Vancouver starting Spring 2012, and as such, preliminary logistic efforts are underway in that city.  This synopsis comes from a casting call seeking extras, background players, and stand-ins.  It was originally posted at Acting-Auditions, but the scent was picked up by the bloodhounds at Bleeding Cool.

Here's the synopsis:

Kaneda is a bar owner in Neo-Manhattan who is stunned when his brother, Tetsuo, is abducted by government agents led by The Colonel.

Desperate to get his brother back, Kaneda agrees to join with Ky Reed and her underground movement who are intent on revealing to the world what truly happened to New York City thirty years ago when it was destroyed. Kaneda believes their theories to be ludicrous but after finding his brother again, is shocked when he displays telekinetic powers.

Ky believes Tetsuo is headed to release a young boy, Akira, who has taken control of Tetsuo’s mind. Kaneda clashes with The Colonel’s troops on his way to stop Tetsuo from releasing Akira but arrives too late. Akira soon emerges from his prison courtesy of Tetsuo as Kaneda races in to save his brother before Akira once again destroys Manhattan island, as he did thirty years ago.

In the anime, Kaneda and Tetsuo are not brothers, though their relationship goes back to early childhood.  Kaneda's protection of the meeker Tetsuo certainly has a sibling element to it, but the live-action film will evidently make their brotherly connection literal.  Then there's Kaneda making his living as the proprietor of a bar.  In the original, Kaneda leads a gang of futuristic bikers who tear ass around Neo-Tokyo, but since both characters have been significantly aged up, a difference like this makes sense.  Hopefully it doesn't mean that Kaneda's iconic techno-hog will still be involved, as it seems like a glaring omission that would eliminate a lot of cool action.

Of course, these changes are minor in comparison to the basic fact that the setting is now Manhattan, not Tokyo.  Thematically, Akira is very much a reflection of Japan's status as the only nation to have ever been subject to the use of nuclear weapons in wartime.  Changing the setting removes that subtext, and it seems unlikely that any substantial thematic focus will replace it.

The screenplay is written principally by Steve Kloves, the man behind every Harry Potter script with the exception of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  Previous writers on the project include Hank Ostby and Mark Fergus, as well as Gary Whitta.  Jaume Collet-Serra, the Spanish director of Orphan, Unknown, and House of Wax, is directing the film.