Speed Racer Film 2008

Speed Racer is a 2008 film that is a live action film adaptation of the 1960s Japanese anime series Speed Racer. The film is written and directed by the Wachowski brothers, who also serve as co-producers. The film had been in development since 1992, changing writers and directors until producer Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers collaborated to begin production on Speed Racer as a family film so the directors could reach a wider audience.

Actor Emile Hirsch was cast as Speed, the hero of the animated series, and Christina Ricci portrays Speed’s girlfriend, Trixie. Speed Racer was shot between June and November 2007 in Potsdam and Berlin, Germany at an estimated budget of $100,000,000. Most of the filming took place at Babelsberg Studios in Potsdam, where the footage was shot entirely against greenscreen.

The Wachowski brothers also filmed in high-definition video for the first time, using a layering method to put both the foreground and the background of scenes in focus to have a real-life anime appearance. Marketers have prepared toys and video games to coincide with the film’s release. Speed Racer premiered on May 3, 2008 as the closing film at the Tribeca Film Festival, and was released on May 9, 2008.

       

Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is a young 18-year old man with natural racing instincts whose goal is to win the Casa Cristo, a cross-country car racing rally that took the life of his older brother, Rex Racer (Scott Porter). Speed is loyal to the family business, run by his parents Pops (John Goodman) and Mom (Susan Sarandon). Pops designed Speed’s car, the Mach 5. The owner of Royalton Industries (Roger Allam) makes Speed a lucrative offer, but Speed rejects the offer, angering the owner.

Speed also uncovers a secret that top corporate interests, including Royalton, are fixing races and cheating to gain profit. With the offer to Speed denied, Royalton wants to ensure that Speed will not win races. Speed finds support from his parents and his girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci) and enters The Crucible in a partnership with his one-time rival, Racer X (Matthew Fox), seeking to rescue his family’s business and the racing sport itself.

       

In September 1992, Warner Bros. Pictures announced that it held the option to create a live action film adaptation of Speed Racer, in development at Silver Pictures. In October 1994, singer Henry Rollins was offered the role of Racer X in the film. In June 1995, actor Johnny Depp was cast into the lead role for Speed Racer, with production slated to begin the coming October, with filming to take place in California and Arizona.

The following August, Depp requested time off to the studio for personal business, delaying production. However, due to a high budget, the same August, director Julien Temple, who was attached to direct Speed Racer, left the project. Depp, without a director, also departed from the project. The studio considered director Gus Van Sant as a replacement for Temple, though it would not grant writing privileges to Van Sant. In December 1997, the studio briefly hired director Alfonso Cuarón for Speed Racer. In the various incarnations of the project, screenwriters Marc Levin, Jennifer Flackett, J. J. Abrams, and Patrick Read Johnson had been hired to write scripts.

In September 2000, Warner Bros. Pictures and producer Lauren Shuler Donner hired writer-director Hype Williams to take the helm of Speed Racer. In October 2001, the studio hired screenwriters Christian Gudegast and Paul Scheuring for $1.2 million split between them to write a script for the film. Eventually, without production going underway, the director and the writers left the project. In June 2004, actor Vince Vaughn spearheaded a revival of the project by presenting a take for the film that would develop the characters more strongly. Vaughn was cast as Racer X and was also attached to the project as an executive producer. With production never becoming active, Vaughn was eventually detached from the project.

In addition to the orchestral score, WB added an updated version of the “Go, Speed Racer, Go” theme song which plays during the end credits. Produced by Ali Dee and Jason Gleed, performed by Ali Dee and the Deekompressors. The film version has sections in English, Japanese, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $18.5 million in 3,606 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking third at the box office behind Iron Man (in its second weekend) and What Happens in Vegas…. The results were well below studio expectations, given that production costs of Speed Racer are estimated to be well over $100 million USD. Despite the low box office numbers, Warner Brothers remains optimistic about sales of associated products ranging from toys to tennis shoes. “We’re still going to do very well with Speed Racer,” says Brad Globe, president of Warner Brothers Consumer Products, acknowledging “a giant movie would have made it all a lot bigger.”

Cast:

• Emile Hirsch as Speed Racer. Actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zac Efron, and Shia LaBeouf were previously considered for the role. To prepare for the role, Hirsch watched every Speed Racer episode and visited Lowe’s Motor Speedway, where he met with driver Jimmie Johnson.
• Nicholas Elia as young Speed Racer.
• John Goodman as Pops Racer, Speed’s father.
• Susan Sarandon as Mom Racer, Speed’s mother.
• Christina Ricci as Trixie, Speed’s girlfriend. Ricci was chosen over Elisha Cuthbert and Kate Mara.
• Ariel Winter as young Trixie.
• Paulie Litt as Spritle, Speed’s younger brother.
• Matthew Fox as Racer X Keanu Reeves turned down the role.
• Nayo Wallace as Minx, Racer X’s girlfriend.
• Hiroyuki Sanada as Mr. Musha, a businessman.
• Rain as Taejo Togokhan, a rookie racer. Rain made his first appearance in a Hollywood film with Speed Racer.
• Yu Nan as the sister of Taejo Togokhan.
• Richard Roundtree as Ben Burns, a commentator who was formerly a racer.
• Benno Furmann as Inspector Detector.
• Roger Allam as Royalton, the corrupt owner of Royalton Industries.
• Kick Gurry as Sparky, Speed’s mechanic.
• Scott Porter as Rex Racer, Speed’s older brother.
• A chimpanzee as Chim Chim, Spritle’s pet. Two chimpanzees were used to portray Chim Chim: Kenzie and Willy.
• Melvil Poupaud as a race commentator.
• Christian Oliver as Snake Oiler.
• Milka Duno as Gearbox.
• Peter Fernandez as a race commentator. (Cameo, original voice of Speed)

Links

• Speed Racer Film 2008 Wallpapers and Photos: http://www.snoron.com/movies-wallpapers/speed-racer/