A couple of websites have posted reports on the Astro Boy portion of Summit Entertainment's panel at NYCC. Along with a description of the footage shown, we now have a bit more of an idea of the plot of the film as it relates to the antagonist robot, Peacemaker, who seems to be powered by "Red Core" energy as opposed to Astro's blue energy. Plus, we have confirmation that Astro will indeed have his, ahem... butt cannons. Well, it just wouldn't be the same without 'em, right?
Check out the scoops from io9, MTV Splash Page and FilmBuffOnLine Newsreel.
Not sure that photography was allowed at the panel. I seriously doubt it, so don't count on seeing the video footage online any time soon.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Info from Summit's NYCC Presentation
New Astro movie pics at IGN!
IGN has uploaded some brand new images from the upcoming CG animated Astro Boy movie by Imagi. Check 'em out!
The blueprints for Astro look as if they were drawn by Tezuka himself! 
Astro takes to the sky.
Looks like he's in trouble here. Wonder how this scene works into the plot.
Be sure to check out the Astro Boy gallery at IGN.com.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
IDW @ NYCC
While the big news for NYCC is going to be from this Sunday's big presentation by Summit Entertainment featuring footage from the upcoming CG animated Astro Boy movie by Imagi, the comic book gurus at IDW Publishing were also there to announce some new information about their adaptations of the film.
The picture to the right has nothing to do with Astro. I just think it's funny.
Anyway, Newsarama brings us the scoop in their NYCC '09 IDW panel report.
Scott Tipton will be writing the Astro Boy Movie Prequel. Tipton’s also writing the adaptation of movie this September. Ashley Wood illustrates the cover of prequel, and E.J. Su, who was inspired to become a cartoonist by Astro Boy, will draw the adaptation.Scott Tipton has written other IDW comic projects such as Star Trek and Angel, and also has a website called Comics 101.
Looks like I was right about Ashley Wood's involvement in the comics, but it was a pretty safe estimate given how much he's already done with IDW.
E.J. Su is an artist I've been a fan of since I first saw his pieces in the Transformers: Genesis art book. He's been penciling Transformers comics for IDW and is an excellent choice for drawing Astro Boy. In fact, when I first heard that IDW was doing Astro Boy comics for the movie, his name immediately sprang to my mind.
Here is a piece of Astro Boy artwork that E.J. did, though I'm fairly certain this was just done for himself and not for anything official.
So, with this in mind it can safely be said that E.J. pretty much rocks the house.
More from the IDW panel:
Tipton said that the footage he’s seen of the Astro Boy movie “looks fantastic, it looks really fun.” He said that writing Astro Boy has been a work in progress, because he “can’t really make with the quips.” He’s had to learn “how to make a ten-year-old boy with machine guns in his butt funny.” Ryall said that the movie is very “true to [Osamu] Tezuka’s spirit.”So there you have it. Actual news on the upcoming comics! I wonder how the story of the prequel comics will work out before the movie? How much of Astro do we see in the prequel comics if the movie is about how he was created in the first place? They must have something in mind, so I guess we'll find out! Continue reading "IDW @ NYCC"...
Thursday, February 5, 2009
REMINDER: Astro Boy @ NYCC this weekend!
This is a friendly reminder that this weekend is the New York Comic Con in New York City, and that Summit Entertainment will be have an exclusive presentation featuring footage from Imagi's upcoming CG animated Astro Boy movie!
The presentation takes place at the IGN Theater on Sunday, Feburary 8th, from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM. If you'll be at the convention, be sure that you don't miss out!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
AWESOME New Astro Boy movie pics!
Harry from Ain't it Cool News is bringing us the goods!
Two new pictures from the upcoming CG animated Astro Boy movie by Imagi have been released, and they are incredible! These are big pictures! Click for a larger view.
Here we have Astro flying around Metro City. Check out the details in the background! It looks just like the world I would envision Astro to live in. Look closely on the left side and you can even see Tezuka's trademark "Hyoutan-Tsugi" mushroom-pig-thing. These cats know their stuff!
And here we have Peacekeeper, a robot that absorbs other machines and uses their energy. Looks wicked!
Now, let's be honest about this. It's pretty obvious why we've been graced by these two images. It's to show that this movie, despite all of Imagi's recent troubles, is still going to happen, and still going to look spectacular. Well, mission accomplished in my book! This ought to quiet down the doomsayers for awhile!
Make sure you check out Harry's original post on AICN and get his take on things. He's clearly a big fan too!
Jungle Fever
Here's a cool announcement that slipped through my fingers last week.
One of Osamu Tezuka's most famous creations, Jungle Emperor Leo (sometimes known internationally as Kimba the White Lion), will be getting a new animated special this summer in Japan. It will be a new story set in the future and is said to be incorporating elements of "variety storytelling", but still be in step with Tezuka's original themes. Here's a description of the plot:
In this future story, mankind is plagued with the environmental destruction it did little to prevent. The United Nations entrusts a company called Eternal Earth to create "Neo Jungle," an artificial environment for the wildlife that faces extinction. Within this thriving miniature ecosystem, a young white lion named Leo is born. While the cub lacks bravery at first, he vows to "become the Jungle Emperor like my father someday!" One day, Leo encounters Ken'ichi, the son of the head of Eternal Earth.Sounds pretty cool, and it's been confirmed that some incredible talent are working on it, including Code Geass director Goro Taniguchi and legendary character designer Yoshitaka Amano. I'll be keeping an eye on this!
Source: Anime News Network - Tezuka's Jungle Emperor to Return in Summer TV Special - Geass' Taniguchi, FF Games' Amano on New Jungle Emperor Continue reading "Jungle Fever"...
Monday, February 2, 2009
More on Last Week's Temp. Movie Shutdown
Tough week, huh? I hope you don't mind, but I just let it all pass so I could sort things out once it was over instead of stressing myself out by reporting every scandalous little scrap of info posted by websites that didn't know what they were talking about. Looks like we're through the worst of it, for now, anyway.
Deadline Hollywood Daily brings the details. If this is to be believed, then almost 80 people working on the Astro Boy film from the Imagi LA office were laid off. This is very unfortunate news, and I absolutely wish all the best to anyone affected by this. But the company still remains determined to release the film on time.
Besides completion, there is also the matter of distribution. Summit Entertainment is simply distributing the film, and so Imagi has to raise the money to promote the film themselves. This might be another tough nut to crack once the time comes.
On the positive side, Anime News Network and Variety each have articles about how the bridge funding for the film has arrived. From the wording I'm not entirely sure if the funding kicked in last week and production resumed right away, or if production was halted for the whole week after all, but it seems like the former from what I'm reading. Funding from the private equity companies is set to arrive tomorrow, so things should be back on track soon enough regardless.
In other news, looks like the previously reported rumor from last summer that Scarlett Johansson was going to be in the movie is not true after all. I had figured after the cast list started to gel and the teaser trailer was released that she wasn't going to be in it after all, but now it's confirmed that she won't be. MTV news spoke with her and, while she said that she had meetings about the film, she had not committed to it. My best guess is that Kristen Bell has the part that Scarlett Johansson was in the running for.
Anyway, let's hope everything runs smoothly from now on. Not only do I want this movie to come out on time, I don't think I could take the stress on having to write about it here if it doesn't!
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