I found the intro song to the 1980s iteration of the show, but the singers on it made me want to claw the eardrums from my head. So I think the original is safer. So let’s begin our post with the opening theme. All of you anime fans can stand at attention or whatever it is you do.
Direct link for the feedreaders.
Now, the news. Summit Entertainment (who you might recall just snagged Red) have joined up with Imagi Studios to distribute Astro Boy worldwide (except for the places Imagi keeps for itself: Japan, Hong Kong, China and a small diner outside of Tacoma, Washington–no one knows why on that last one.) The cast includes Nicolas Cage—
Whoa, whoa. Put the blades away. Cage isn’t playing Astro Boy. I repeat:
Criminy. He might have been attached to the project as Astro Boy back when he was trying to be in any comic book project, attaching his name to Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Brother Power the Geek and Cerebus. But he’s not anymore, okay?
Anyway, Cage is in the cast, as well as Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane, Bill Nighy and Eugene Levy. Freddie Highmore is Astro Boy. Good choice. Also a good choice is Imagi, since their TMNT reportedly did not suck. The film is to hit in 2009. David Bowers is directing and his last helming job was Flushed Away. Script is by Timothy Harris, who brought us Space Jam on the one hand, and Trading Places on the other. There’s a teaser poster over on the right there, snagged from Comics2Film, where they’ve been posting the press releases diligently on this thing.
[ad#longpost]Now this thing looks like it’s actually going to happen this time, but back in my Corona days, there was going to be a live action film. Todd Alcott (Antz) had been attached to scribe, with Don Murphy (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) producing. If that makes you cringe, Jim Henson‘s company was on board to do the CG and animatronic effects, so that would have been interesting. This was all back in 1999 when Tim Burton was rumored to be eyeing the director’s chair. At least the costumes would have been cool.
So that having been said: Imagi? Good choice.
I wonder if Henson actually did any concept art or stuff for Astro Boy…wouldn’t that be kickass to see? (I am fully prepared for someone to send me a link to a coffee table sized book entitled The Lost Astro Boy Project of Henson. That would actually be pretty sweet.) In other news, Comics2Film also mentioned that Wowwee Toys is partnered with Imagi on the toy license. Although I think we’d all be happy with the Asian Art Museum t-shirt (featured here), if somebody could produce more of them.
