Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures have selected May 9, 2008 as the release date for their live-action feature film based on the classic anime series Speed Racer. Opening two weeks earlier than expected, the action film set in the world of Formula One racing will be released day-and-date in a majority of the international markets.
Adapting Tatsuo Yoshida’s anime creation for the big screen are writers/directors Larry and Andy Wachowski, who last sat in the director’s chair for the blockbuster Matrix trilogy. The film is being produced by Joel Silver under his Silver Pictures banner, and also sees the Wachowskis reteaming with Oscar-winning vfx supervisor John Gaeta and exec producer Grant Hill.
Like the 1960s cartoonTV show, the movie will focus on a young man’s efforts to drive his high-tech Mach 5 to victory over the mysterious Racer X. Shooting is scheduled to begin this year.
‘We want to give Speed Racer the maximum playability throughout the season, so moving it up to the earliest possible date made the most sense,” explains Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros. “We have been excited about Speed Racer since we first announced the project. We see it as a movie with broad-based, worldwide appeal–from adults to teens to families–making it the perfect film to lead off our exciting 2008 summer slate.’
Backing out of the 2008 Memorial Day picnic will save Speed Racer from having to go toe-to-toe with the highly anticipated fourth Indiana Jones installment, which is slated to hit theaters on May 22. Moving the release up a couple of weeks will also help its chances of taking in a healthy profit overseas before the start of the European soccer championships, an event that tends to steal a lot of thunder from the movie business.
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