Summit Entertainment and Imagi Studios announced today that the long wait for a CG animated take on Osamu Tezuka classic Japanese manga and anime character Astro Boy will soon be over, as Summit plans to release the movie nationwide on October 23, 2009.
Directed by David Boyers, the film features the voice of Freddie Highmore as the title character with other voices provided by Nicolas Cage, Kristin Bell, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane and more. The last animated feature film from Imagi Studios was TMNT, the most recent take on the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
The full press release follows:
Los Angeles, CA (September 22, 2008) Summit Entertainment will release Astro Boy in North America on Friday, October 23, 2009, it was announced today by Rob Friedman, Co-Chairman and CEO of Summit Entertainment, and Erin Corbett, President of Imagi Studios U.S. Summit and Imagi are putting together the final details on a marketing plan designed to reach both the family movie-going audience and adult fans of Astro Boy alike. Plan includes a commitment from a major fast food restaurant partner as well as alliances in the areas of toys, games, books and others, soon to be announced.
Produced by Imagi Studios, the CG-animated motion picture will bow on over 3,000 screens across North America. International release dates for the film are to be announced soon.
We are pleased to bring the exceptional world of Astro Boy to the big screen for movie-goers in North America, said Friedman. We have lined up some key marketing partners for the film and our October date allows us to put the film out at the right time enabling our partners to reach their targeted audiences with on-going marketing programs tied to the film.
A beloved icon for over half-a-century, this marks Astro Boys first time on the big screen, making our film one of the most highly anticipated releases of the year, stated Corbett. Were thrilled to be bringing this remarkable and enduring property to fans both old and new as a grand-scale action-filled adventure with cutting-edge CG technology.
Astro Boys all-star cast features the voices of Academy Award®-winning actor Nicolas Cage, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane, Bill Nighy and Eugene Levy with Freddie Highmore in the title role. David Bowers (Flushed Away) is directing Astro Boy from a screenplay written by Timothy Harris (Trading Places, Kindergarten Cop), with Maryann Garger producing.
The iconic character Astro Boy has found global popularity since his creation in the early 1950s by Japans Osamu Tezuka, known as the god of manga and father of anime, and has been the hero of three acclaimed animated television series aired around the world.
Set in the future, Imagi Studios Astro Boy is a classic superhero origin story about a young robot with incredible powers, created by a brilliant scientist, and his adventure-filled journey in search of his identity and destiny, taking him into a netherworld of robot gladiators before he returns to save Metro City.
Summit Entertainment, which entered into a global alliance with Imagi Studios earlier this year, will distribute Astro Boy worldwide except for Imagis reserved territories of Japan, Hong Kong and China.
About Imagi Studios
Imagi International Holdings Limited (Imagi) is listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Imagis principal business is the development and production of CG-animated theatrical feature films. Imagis first motion picture TMNT was released in March 2007, opening number one in U.S. box office revenue, only the third time in history that an Asian-made film has achieved that honor. Imagi has development operations in Los Angeles, California, and CG production studios at its Chai Wan (Hong Kong) headquarters.
About Summit Entertainment LLC
Summit Entertainment is a worldwide theatrical motion picture development, financing, production and distribution studio. The studio handles all aspects of marketing and distribution for both its own internally developed motion pictures as well as acquired pictures. Summit Entertainment, LLC also represents international sales for both its own slate and third party product. Summit Entertainment, LLC plans to release 10 to 12 films annually.
