Hollywood's Astro Boy Movie Faces a Shortage of Funds

by dtshyk
Jan 3, 2009 6:16 AM | 19 Comments

Variety.com reported that IMAGI Animation Studio, the producer of 3D CGI movie "Astro Boy", is financially in trouble. The auditor of IMAGI said the company had bank and cash balances of HK$88.9 million ($11.5 million) on September 30th, 2008 but the production of the movie requires $66 million. The directors are reportedly searching for the resources but it's not certain they will make it before the deadline.

The movie was announced to be delivered in October 2009. Freddy Highmore, Nicolas Cage and Bill Nighty are cast for the main roles. Mushi Production, the creators of the original anime "Astro Boy", had turned down IMAGIC's initial character design, which was totally different from the original.

Variety.com
Variety Japan
NHK "Japanese Animation v.s. Hollywood" on Youtube

19 Comments Recent Comments

windy said:

Scud said:
Good.

exactly what i was going to say. :v

What a coincidence!

Jan 7, 2009 6:52 PM by Neverender

I was wondering how this would turn out. I'm still interested to see it.

.....and Nicholas Cage needs to stay away from anime. I can't trust his acting skills after the Wicker Man....

Jan 7, 2009 6:48 PM by xMatronxMalicex

I didn't even know this was happening.

But thank goodness.

Jan 7, 2009 6:43 PM by Kyora

its gonna suck anyway.

Jan 4, 2009 6:07 PM by Rail_Man

Alphanomical said:

dtshyk said:
Freddy Highmore, Nicolas Cage and Bill Nighty are cast for the main roles.

I think you'll find that it's Bill Nighy. I like Bill Nighty though, has a nice ring to it =D.

As for Nicolas Cage, hmmm, that name is not tempting me to go see this (if they ever get the funding to finish it and release it)

Hee, it's certainly tempting me, I'mma big fan of NC -- although it'll be hopeless if they don't get the funds to finish ;___;

Come on, I wanna see Astro Boy on the big screen, no matter how corny or bad it is! :DDD

Jan 4, 2009 5:00 PM by the_seventh_l

dtshyk said:
Freddy Highmore, Nicolas Cage and Bill Nighty are cast for the main roles.

Jan 4, 2009 4:55 PM by Alphanomical

IMO..

No worries, I was never interested in a live-action Astro Boy movie from Hollywood to begin with.

Jan 4, 2009 12:04 PM by Kira01

Takuya-kun said:
astro movie is gonna be a kid's show.... bad

...*Facepalms* Who do you think watched the original anime series?

Anyways, I'm glad IMAGI is in trouble. Because of them, we're possibly never gonna get a quality release of Gatchaman in the U.S. ever again. That, and the Astro Boy movie looks insanely unimpressive.

Jan 4, 2009 6:41 AM by CCZilla

"Excellent", said Mr. Montgomery Burns from his mansion. (The Simpsons character catchphrase reference that speaks my opinion on this matter)

Jan 4, 2009 4:17 AM by KidRyan

Scud said:
Good.

exactly what i was going to say. :v

Jan 4, 2009 2:18 AM by windy

astro movie is gonna be a kid's show.... bad

Jan 3, 2009 8:47 PM by Takuya-kun

superjesus said:
Hollywood need to leave anime and manga alone. i watch anime because it has a different feel than hollywood Animation. it's more adult and hard hitting. if i wanted to so a hollywood movie I'd go to the movies. stop fucking up good anime just to line fat greedy pockets. this needs to stop and only we the fans can make it stop. just don't go see the crap that may stop this.

The problem is that it's not clear whether it will in fact make money or not. It's a risky gamble based on the success of Western comic books making the transition to blockbuster movies. I strongly doubt it will succeed as much as its inspirations have.

Focus-

Astro Boy might be the most iconic, influential anime ever produced, but it was made in 1952, and movies and television, especially in the animated medium, have moved on since then. Literally, the industry has gone through at least 8 complete lifetimes from the early fifties to the present day. It's no longer funny, clever, or classic. It shouldn't be resurrected, except for awesome video games made by Treasure.

And oh yeah, good luck raising $55 million during the current economic crisis from tight-fisted hedge funds and investment companies. I've worked for a couple of them before, and let me tell you, they will treat this property the same way they would two month old moldy rice.

And rightfully so.

Jan 3, 2009 4:29 PM by YoungVagabond

Hollywood need to leave anime and manga alone. i watch anime because it has a different feel than hollywood Animation. it's more adult and hard hitting. if i wanted to so a hollywood movie I'd go to the movies. stop fucking up good anime just to line fat greedy pockets. this needs to stop and only we the fans can make it stop. just don't go see the crap that may stop this.

Jan 3, 2009 3:23 PM by superjesus

ladyxzeus said:

ntHai said:
They should cancel Dragon Ball, and put all the cash into Astro Boy. It looks so epic

Hahahaha XD

Jan 3, 2009 1:44 PM by magentaanbu

Good.

Jan 3, 2009 12:48 PM by Scud

ladyxzeus said:

ntHai said:
They should cancel Dragon Ball, and put all the cash into Astro Boy. It looks so epic

Qft.

Jan 3, 2009 12:30 PM by Kappaka

ntHai said:
They should cancel Dragon Ball, and put all the cash into Astro Boy. It looks so epic

Jan 3, 2009 10:58 AM by ladyxzeus

CGI Astro Boy actually looks pretty decent.

Jan 3, 2009 7:18 AM by Kappaka

So they have 11 mil, while they need 66mil. WTF! That means, they have to make 55 mil in less, than 1 year? oO They should cancel Dragon Ball, and put all the cash into Astro Boy. It looks so epic. Though I don't know if this will be another kids' show or trainwreck by Hollywood

dtshyk said:
NHK "Japanese Animation v.s. Hollywood" on Youtube

And btw could someone identify the music at the very beginning for me? =)
edit: nvm, found it

Jan 3, 2009 6:53 AM by HaiAlwaysHungry