Daniel Radcliffe to play crime reporter in `Tokyo Vice`

Los Angeles: British actor Daniel Radcliffe is stepping away from his image as the boy wizard of `Harry Potter` by taking on the role of a Tokyo-based American crime reporter in `Tokyo Vice`.

Based on the memoirs of Jake Adelstein, the film revolves around an American journalist who covered Tokyo`s underworld for Japan`s biggest newspaper. The film, set to begin shooting in early 2014, will be directed by music video and commercials veteran Anthony Mandler, based on a script by playwright JT Rogers, the Hollywood Reporter said. `Tokyo Vice` narrates the story of Jake Adelstein, a crime reporter on the Yomiuri Shimbun, the largest newspaper in the world by circulation. Adelstein began his career as the first westerner in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Press Club but went do exposes on a yakuza boss given a liver transplant in California. "I had a number of people interested in adapting the book, but I was concerned what would happen if I didn`t have some say in what happened to the screenplay. I would have issues if a lot of liberties were taken, as this is the story of my life," Adelstein told the trade magazine. Radcliffe, who has been taking on interesting roles in films like `Kill Your Darlings`, `Horns` and `The F-Word`, seemed right for the role, said Adelstein. "Daniel Radcliffe is 24, about the same age as I was when I began as a cub reporter. I think he`s really maturing as an actor and will be great for the role." PTI