As a live-action adventure this time
The last time that Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy was brought to the big screen by a studio in the West, the result was 2009’s 3D CG ‘toon, which arrived to little critical fanfare and lacklustre box office. Special effects company Animal Logic is gambling on a live-action version to enjoy a little more success.
While Animal Logic has largely been known for animation work on the likes of Happy Feet and providing VFX to big films such as this year’s Avengers sequel, the company has been busy developing its own output, with a Betty Boop film in the works. Astro Boy will be another big project, and the hunt is on for potential writers and directors.
Tezuka’s character, launched in the early 1950s has become a Japanese icon, running for years in Manga and newspaper strips and generating several anime series that were seen around the world. Though several Hollywood studios developed takes on the idea, only the 2009 version made it to the screen. Now, the task will be to turn the tale of a robot boy created to replace a scientist’s dead son who uses his powers to battle evil, into a film with plenty of effects. “We’ve seen him as a manga, an anime and an animated movie but we’ve never seen him as a live-action movie or him as a superhero,” says Animal Logic’s Zareh Nalbandian. “We actually see him in the same league as an Iron Man.” Ambitious words, especially given the character’s recent history…
from Empire News
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