‘Astro Boy’ Cast and Details Announced

We’ve known that an Astro Boy film is on the way for quite some time, but until now the casting and plot details were a bit thin on the ground. Now though, the blanks have been filled in, and we now know a bit more about how the film will play and who will be in the important roles.

Astro Boy is a comic book hero who started life in Japan in the 1950s in the aftermath of the Second World War. The character was created by the so-called God of Manga Osamu Tezuka and is a young robot with incredible powers.

Astro Boy is created by a scientist to replace the son he lost. The character is definitely influenced by Japan’s experience during that time period when the first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The film version of the series, which has been one of the world’s most popular and timeless comic books, and spawned many TV series and resulting merchandise, is a joint project between Summit Entertainment and Imagi Studios.

The film is CG-animated, and according to Comingsoon.net is set to star the voice acting talents of Nicolas Cage, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane, Bill Nighy, Eugene Levy Freddie Highmore. Highmore will play the title role.

The film hasn’t yet got a release date but is expected to be out sometime in 2009.