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Speed Racer is a 2008 film that is a live action film adaptation of the 1960s Japanese anime series Speed Racer. The film is written and directed by The Wachowski brothers who also serve as co-producers. The film had been in development since 1992, changing writers and directors until producer Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers collaborated to begin production on Speed Racer as a family film so the directors could reach a wider audience.
Actor Emile Hirsch was cast as Speed, the hero of the animated series, and Christina Ricci portrays Speed's girlfriend, Trixie. Speed Racer was shot between June and November 2007 in Potsdam and Berlin, Germany at an estimated budget of $100,000,000. Most of the filming took place at Babelsberg Studios in Potsdam, where the footage was shot entirely against greenscreen. The Wachowski brothers also filmed in high-definition video for the first time, using a layering method to put both the foreground and the background of scenes in focus to have a real-life anime appearance.
The story begins with Speed Racer who is a young man with natural racing instincts whose goal is to win The Crucible, a cross-country car racing rally that took the life of his older brother, Rex Racer. Speed is loyal to the family business, run by his parents Pops and Mom. Pops designed Speed's car, the Mach 5. The owner of Royalton Industries makes Speed a lucrative offer, Speed rejects the offer, angering the owner. Speed also uncovers a secret that top corporate interests, including Royalton, are fixing races and cheating to gain profit. With the offer to Speed denied, Royalton wants to ensure that Speed will not win races. Speed finds support from his parents and his girlfriend Trixie and enters The Crucible in a partnership with his one-time rival, Racer X, seeking to rescue his family's business and the racing sport itself.
* Emile Hirsch as Speed Racer. Actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zac Efron, and Shia LaBeouf were previously considered for the role. To prepare for the role, Hirsch watched every Speed Racer episode and visited Lowe's Motor Speedway, where he met with driver Jimmie Johnson.
* Nicholas Elia as young Speed Racer.
* John Goodman as Pops Racer, Speed's father.
* Susan Sarandon as Mom Racer, Speed's mother.
* Christina Ricci as Trixie, Speed's girlfriend. Ricci was chosen over Elisha Cuthbert and Kate Mara.
* Ariel Winter as young Trixie.
* Scott Porter as Rex Racer, Speed's older brother.
* Matthew Fox as Racer X Keanu Reeves turned down the role.
* Nayo Wallace as Minx, Racer X's girlfriend.
* Hiroyuki Sanada as Mr. Musha, a businessman.
* Rain as Taejo Togokhan, a rookie racer. Rain made his first appearance in a Hollywood film with Speed Racer.
* Yu Nan as the sister of Taejo Togokhan.
* Richard Roundtree as Ben Burns, a commentator who was formerly a racer.
* Benno Fürmann as Inspector Detector.
* Roger Allam as Royalton, the corrupt owner of Royalton Industries.
* Kick Gurry as Sparky, Speed's mechanic.
* Paulie Litt as Spritle, Speed's younger brother.
* A chimpanzee as Chim Chim, Spritle's pet. Two chimpanzees were used to portray Chim Chim: Kenzie and Willy. In July 2007, PETA contacted Speed Racer producer Joel Silver about reports that the chimpanzee had been beaten and had also bitten one of the actors and encouraged production to switch to animatronics. A studio spokesperson confirmed that an actor had been bitten, but the actor was treated and the chimpanzee was given a rest. The studio denied to PETA that the chimpanzee had been mistreated, saying that the decision would remain to use live animals in production.
* Melvil Poupaud as a race commentator.
* Christian Oliver as Snake Oiler.
* Milka Duno as Gearbox.
Directed by Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski
Produced by Joel Silver, Grant Hill, Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski
Written by Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski
Starring Emile Hirsch, John Goodman, Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox
Music by Michael Giacchino
Cinematography David Tattersall
Editing by Roger Barton, Zach Staenberg
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s) Germany May 8, 2008, United States May 9, 2008
Running time 135 min.
Country United States
Language English
Budget $100 million
Genre: Action - Family - Sport
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