Speed Racer
Speed Racer is a 2008 family film that is a live action film adaptation of the 1960s Japanese animated series Speed Racer. The film is directed by the Wachowski brothers with Emile Hirsch as Speed and Christina Ricci as Speed's girlfriend, Trixie. Susan Sarandon and John Goodman portray Speed's parents.
Starting in 1992, Speed Racer was a project in development hell that changed directors, screenwriters, and actors through the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2006, the film entered production and began filming on greenscreen sets in Berlin during the summer of 2007. Speed Racer has a release date set for May 9, 2008.
Synopsis
Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is a young man who has natural racing instincts whose goal is to win The Crucible, a cross-country 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), with Pops responsible for designing Speed's vehicle, Mach 5. The owner of Royalton Industries (Roger Allam) makes Speed a lucrative offer, and Speed rejects it, angering the owner. Speed also uncovers a secret that top corporate interests, including Royalton, are fixing some of the biggest races to gain profit. With the offer to Speed denied, Royalton seeks to ensure that Speed will not win any major 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 sport itself.
Cast
* Emile Hirsch as Speed Racer. Hirsch was chosen over Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Shia LaBeouf. To prepare for the role, Hirsch watched every Speed Racer episode and visited Lowe's Motor Speedway, where he met with driver Jimmie Johnson.
* 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.
* Scott Porter as Rex Racer, Speed's older brother.
* Matthew Fox as Racer X, Speed's rival.
* Nayo Wallace as Minx, Racer X's girlfriend.
* Hiroyuki Sanada as Mr. Musha, a businessman.
* Rain as Taejo Togokhan, a rookie racer. Rain is a South Korean pop singer who is making 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 Fürmann as Inspector Detector.
* Roger Allam as Royalton, the corrupt owner of Royalton Industries.
* Kick Gurry as Sparky, Speed's mechanic.
* Paulie Litt as Spritle, Speed's younger brother.
* A chimpanzee as Chim Chim, Spritle's pet. In July 2007, PETA contacted Speed Racer producer Joel Silver about reports that the chimpanzee had been beaten and had also bitten one of the actors and encouraged production to switch to animatronics. A studio spokesperson confirmed that an actor had been bitten, but the actor was treated and the chimpanzee was given a rest. The studio denied to PETA that the chimpanzee had been mistreated, saying that the decision would remain to use live animals in production.
* Melvil Poupaud as a race commentator.
* Christian Oliver in an unnamed role.
* Milka Duno as Gearbox.
