Wednesday, April 2

• Speed Racer to Close Tribeca Film Festival

  The Wachowski Brothers' highly anticipated Speed Racer has been announced as a special presentation screening for the closing night of this year's Tribeca Film Festival on May 3, 2008 in Manhattan.

  For more info on the festival and to buy tickets for festival screenings, check out the official Tribeca Film Festival site.

  
  

  Posted 04/02/2008 by Jeff

  Related: Andy Wachowski | Larry Wachowski | Susan Sarandon | Emile Hirsch | Speed Racer

Friday, October 26

• Palm Springs Film Festival to honor Penn, Hirsch, Blonsky and Cotillard

  The powers that be in Palm Springs are announcing this year's honorees. Sean Penn will receive the Director of the Year award for his work on Into the Wild. Previous director honorees include Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Ang Lee, which means that acknowledgement of this sort heavily favors Penn for getting a Best Director nod come Oscar time.

  Marion Cotillard will be receiving the Breakthrough Performance Award for La Vie en Rose, and Nikki Blonsky (Hairspray) and Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild) will be receiving the Rising Star awards.

  The 19th annual Palm Springs Film Festival will take place from Jan. 3-14, 2008. The awards will be given out at a gala on January 5.

  
  
  

  Into the Wild trailer

  Sean Penn directs this true life adventure.

  Posted 10/26/2007 by Heather

  Related: Marion Cotillard | Sean Penn | Emile Hirsch | Nikki Blonsky | Into the Wild

Tuesday, September 18

• Hirsch Talks Speed Racer

  ReelzChannel was on hand today at the junket for Into the Wild in Los Angeles. The film promises to be a break out of sorts, at least critically, for star Emile Hirsch. His commercial breakout, Speed Racer, is finishing production now with a tentpole release slated for next summer.

  The young actor spoke briefly about his role as Speed Racer today: "One of the crazy things about Speed Racer was I went from being outdoors, beautiful nature shots, to not one scene do I shoot outdoors in Speed Racer. Everything is on a green screen stage. It was like being in a sauna and then jumping into an icebath for three and a half months. They both have their advantages. The green screen is certainly a lot safer."

  "I think people should expect something very special out of the Wachowski brothers on Speed Racer. I think that they really reinvented themselves. It's nothing like The Matrix, [it] doesn't look like The Matrix. It is its own new movie, and that was something very important to them, that they bring something new to the character."

  Hirsch himself admits to being a fan of the show as a kid. He firmly believes the new movie will please fans of the show. "I used to watch Speed Racer as a kid. Go Speed Racer! [Fans] will be very, very happy. They'll be more than happy. They'll be ecstatic."

  When asked whether the film will have a camp element to it like the show, Hirsch smirks. "Well, you'll have to see about that."

  
  
  

  Reelz Clip

  Dailies made the trip to Berlin to talk with the cast.

  Posted 09/18/2007 by Jeff

  Related: Andy Wachowski | Larry Wachowski | Emile Hirsch | Speed Racer

Monday, June 11

• Ich bin ein Speed Racer

  The Wachowski brothers have finally emerged from hiding for their first post-Matrix project, a live-action Speed Racer movie based on the popular animated series from the '60s. While the Berlin set of Speed Racer is more heavily guarded than Checkpoint Charlie, Warner Bros. recently held a press conference there to promote the film, which opens in theaters next May.

  Dailies' own Errol Barnett ventured to the former Cold War capitol, where Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Matthew Fox and others talked about adapting Speed Racer for the big screen. Check it out here.

  
  
  

  Speed Racer First Look

  Dailies made the trip to Berlin to talk with the cast.

  Posted 06/11/2007 by Thomas

  Related: Christina Ricci | Matthew Fox | Emile Hirsch

Friday, June 1

• Check out Speed Racer's sweet new ride

  Things have been mighty quiet on the set of Speed Racer, the new live-action adaptation of the classic animated series currently being developed by Matrix siblings Larry and Andy Wachowski.

  Aside from a few notable casting announcements (Emile Hirsch as Speed, Christina Ricci as Trixie), information has been difficult to come by. Those of us eager to see how the Wachowskis will approach translating Speed Racer's quirky Japanese animation to celluloid have been consigned mainly to hearsay and speculation -- until now.  

  USA Today recently unveiled the first image of Speed's car of choice, the badass Mach 5, and it looks pretty sweet. If this pic is any indication of what's to come, Speed fans can rest assured that the Wachowskis intend to stay true to the animated series. 

  
  
  Next Showing: Speed Racer is set for a May 9, 2008 release.

  Posted 06/01/2007 by Thomas

  Related: Andy Wachowski | Christina Ricci | Larry Wachowski | Emile Hirsch

Saturday, March 24

• Hirsch Does Speed

  The reclusive Wachowski brothers (are they still brothers? Or is it brother/sister now?) are emerging from hiding this year to make Speed Racer, their first directorial effort since the Matrix movies. Emile Hirsch (Lords of Dogtown, Alpha Dog), who landed the coveted role of Speed, spoke recently about the highly anticipated project. 

  I always found the Speed Racer cartoon to be vaguely disturbing, though I could never quite figure out why. The Wachowski brothers are supposedly gunning for a G rating for the Speed Racer movie, which likely means no S&M outfits or out-of-place orgy sequences. Bummer.

  
  

  Posted 03/24/2007 by Thomas

  Related: Andy Wachowski | Larry Wachowski | Emile Hirsch