Just when you thought Astro Boy was never going to make it to the big screen, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We have received the official press release from Imagi Studios and Summit Entertainment (who are partnering for the flick) with the full cast for the anime update. Imagi finally found their lead in Freddie Highmore back in February and they have announced that joining Highmore in the cast are Nicolas Cage, Bill Nighy, Nathan Lane, and Eugene Levy. There is no word yet on which characters from the original series will be making an appearance, but I could definitely see Lane doing a respectable job as Hamegg.

Astro Boy is the story of a boy robot looking for love and acceptance after being abandoned by his creator. After a Pinocchio-like journey of servitude in a circus, Astro was whisked off to safety by the understanding Professor Ochanomizu. Of course, Astro also spent his time battling mad scientists and out of control robots in between bouts of abandonment issues.

Judging by how long other people stayed on board for the big-screen version of Astro Boy, I'm amazed they finally found the time to cast their lead. In a press release sent to Comics2Film, Imagi Entertainment announced that Freddie Highmore (of Spiderwick Chronicles fame) will voice Astro Boy in the feature film. Originally created by Osamu Tezuka, Astro Boy was the story of a boy robot fighting crime and dealing with some personal 'issues' about reconciling his circuitry with his burgeoning humanity.

Director David Bowers was quoted as saying, "It's terrific that Freddie has agreed to play Astro. He's a remarkably skilled young actor, whose freshness and vitality make him perfect for the role. Astro Boy is a beloved superhero and has captured hearts around the globe for more than 50 years. I can't wait to see where Freddie takes him." Not to rain on their parade, but some of the same things were said about Colin Brady and Michael Lachance -- look where they ended up.

It's going to be a busy year for the young actor; he's also currently working on the family flick, Eddie Dickens and the Awful End for Francis Lawrence. Highmore has been earning some good reviews for his performance in Chronicles, so I doubt that they will be replacing him anytime soon. Not bad for an actor that by the tender age of 16 has already worked with some of the biggest names in the business. Astro Boy is scheduled for release in 2009.

Thanks in no small part to a certain boy wizard, fantasy movies based on children's book series are hot, hot, hot. The latest to come down the pike, The Spiderwick Chronicles, based on the popular series by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, hits the mark on almost all counts. Like a lot of good fantasy films, this one centers around a spooky old house in the middle of nowhere, and opens with the Grace children and their mother pulling into the drive. The Graces have just moved from New York City to this ominous house, left to the mother by an aunt who's in a mental facility. Dad isn't along for the move, creating some nice underlying tension between the sibs and their mom around their fractured family.

The Grace children are twins Jared (the tough, angry kid) and Simon (the dorky, science-geek kid), a dual role played by Freddie Highmore, and older sister Mallory (Sarah Bolger). Jared is not happy to be there; he blames his mother for his parents' marriage falling apart, and wants to move in with his dad. But it isn't long before Jared becomes a bit intrigued by the house ... he discovers the musty office of his great-uncle Arthur Spiderwick (David Strathairn) -- and Uncle Spiderwick's life work, a Field Guide to the fantasy world. The book is crammed with knowledge of all the races of creatures unknown to most men, but spoken of in lore: faeries, brownies, boggarts, goblins, trolls, and the big meanie of them all, an ogre named Mulgarath.

ComingSoon.net has the latest poster for the big-screen version of The Spiderwick Chronicles, and I'm afraid it is just another installment of one-sheets that I think looks pretty 'blah.' Sure, they all have the same look and feel, but since they aren't exactly the most eye-catching designs in the first place, this is not necessarily a good thing. Directed by Mark Waters, Spiderwick is based on the best-selling fantasy series by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi. This is the third poster release for the film, and there was also a teaser trailer released in July. I'll admit that after watching the teaser, I couldn't help but think the whole thing seemed an awful lot like Pan's Labyrinth -- but without all of the trauma.

Set in the US, the story revolves around three siblings who stumble across a "field guide to faeries" that opens up a parallel world. While the trio are discovering all kinds of benevolent little creatures, they come across some slightly less-friendly ones as well, and the latest poster even works in a little menace by adding 'Beware' to the heading. The family flick stars Sarah Bolger as Mallory Grace and Freddie Highmore as both Jared and Simon Grace. Rounding out the cast is David Strathairn as Arthur Spiderwick and Mary Louise Parker as Helen Grace.

There were over 12 books published as part of the series, including supplementary books, so there is a lot of material if Nickelodeon decides to make a franchise out of the film. Now that The Golden Compass' future is a little less sure, maybe Spiderwick can take the place of the "heir to Harry Potter" for children's fantasy films. The Spiderwick Chronicles opens on February 15th, 2008.

I must applaud the people at Nickelodeon/Paramount for not giving into the Potter machine. I was shocked that this new teaser poster for The Spiderwick Chronicles is nothing like the posters for the Harry Potter movies. And I am very glad that it stands on its own, despite the fact that the Spiderwick books feature designs that rip off evoke the Potter novels. Instead the poster appropriately reflects the look of the film, or at least the last shot we saw in the teaser trailer last week. I'm guessing that as we get closer to February (when the film hits theaters), we will see posters showing more of the fantastical nature of the story -- I think ads might even show some of the other characters, human and mythological. Until then, we have a scared little Freddie Highmore walking through the color-blurred woods.

Based on the series of novels by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi, The Spiderwick Chronicles stars Highmore (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) as a boy who moves to the country and finds a mysterious field guide to another world. From the trailer, it seems like a cross between The Neverending Story, Jumanji and Bridge to Terabitha (who am I kidding? It looks like a hundred fantasy films, though possibly darker than most of the current offerings). The film is being directed by Mark Waters (Mean Girls) and according to the IMDb, the following people have worked on the screenplay: David Berenbaum (Elf); partners Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio (Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy); and John Sayles (The Secret of Roan Inish). The cast includes Mary-Louise Parker, David Strathairn and Joan Plowright and the voices of Nick Nolte, Martin Short and Knocked Up's Seth Rogen (!).

If you like snakes, creepy goblin people and Freddie Highmore, then you'll love the teaser trailer for The Spiderwick Chronicles. The recently-released trailer gives us a sneak peak into Highmore's -- the magical child from Finding Neverland -- role as the title character in this adaptation of the children's lit favorite. Highmore is joining a more or less all-star cast that includes Mary Louise Parker (one of my favorites), Martin Short and Nick Nolte -- I've missed him, haven't you? The film is being directed by Mike Waters who is responsible for Freaky Friday and the brutally funny Mean Girls.

The Spiderwick Chronicles is a series of stories about a young boy who acquires some great responsibility thanks to his possession of an eerie book found in his new home. The boy, Jared (Highmore), his twin brother Simon (also played by Highmore) and sister Mallory -- played by Sarah Bolger -- set out on a series of adventures with the strange beings who reside at the Spiderwick estate. Those beings, Jared, and his brother and sister all get into a series of mishaps that they have to get themselves out of.

Based on this trailer, the film and its creatures will look incredible and have a visual similarity to Highmore's recent film Arthur and The Invisibles. As for Highmore, he's been showing the kind of talent normally displayed by older, trained actors, which is why he's consistently a joy to watch on screen. The prodigy actor and the rest of the talented cast will be seen in February of 2008 when The Spiderwick Chronicles makes its way to theatres.

Slogging out to the multiplexes to see 2006's overstuffed lineup of CGI-animated kids' films was a truly soul-deadening experience. These polished widgets -- Over the Hedge, The Ant Bully, Cars, Barnyard, Flushed Away -- dropped off the conveyor belt like so many shining pennies, exactly the same and worth about as much. Most of these films used the exact same template: An outsider hero with some kind of "loner" issues was accidentally thrust into a world peopled with colorful characters. After facing some kind of larger challenge, the hero learned how to be part of a family. These films didn't even bother to disguise their boredom; they could have been generated from the same computer program.

For the record (and to register a differing opinion from that of our own Kim Voynar) George Miller's Happy Feet is the year's only example of animated excellence; it's the only entry that demonstrates even the tiniest form of imagination, and it has practically become a phenomenon among audiences starved for such things.

Try figuring this sentence out at 6am: "Freddie Highmore and Sarah Bolger have been cast as the three Grace children in the fantasy film The Spiderwick Chronicles." If you're like me, you'll read it roughly 15 times to make sure that "Freddie Highmore" and "Sarah Bolger" are, in fact, only two names. And then you'll spend far too long trying to figure out how the hell two people are going to play three kids. It's not until a half-hour later (post-coffee) that you read further and find out that two of the three kids are ... identical twins. A-HA! So that's how it's going to work! Highmore, who played Charlie Bucket in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, will play those twins, Simon and Jared (he's the bad one), while Bolger will play sis Mallory.

The film is based on yet another of the endless list of young adult fantasy series recently snatched up by Hollywood; this one is about three kids who move into an ancient mansion (the Spiderwick of the movie's title), "where they discover Brownie, an enchanted creature who introduces them to a world of goblins, fairies and sprites." Mark Waters (of Mean Girls and Freaky Friday, both of which are votes in his favor) will be directing starting this fall, working from a screenplay that The Hollywood Reporter (but not the IMDb) claims was written by John Sayles.

• So let me get this straight: Hairspray, the movie, is released in 1988. Then they make a musical from it in 2002. And now New Line is again going to make a movie of it, this time with a budget of $50 million? Jeez, I know they say Hollywood is out of ideas, but this is ridiculous.
• The paper reviews some of the more weird horror flicks coming out from overseas, including Pray, about a punk teen and his druggie girlfriend who kidnap a girl, only to find out she's been dead for a year (Oooooooo!); Una Bianca, a long Italian TV movie about two cops tracking down a group of vicious crooks; and Don't Deliver Us From Evil, which is about two young girls who worship Satan and start killing males in their neighborhood. And in one of the more unintentionally funny segues, the Times then says, "Also out today ...Fun With Dick And Jane."

In addition to his directing career, Luc Besson has made a bit of a name for himself as a writer of children's books. His four-volume series about Arthur and the Minimoys has been a big hit in his native France, and Besson has been working for years on a movie about the characters. Though very few details had been available until recently, new information about the film has been showing up every 10 minutes over the past couple of days.

The film, which is a mix of animation and live-action, will feature the voices of Madonna, David Bowie, and Snoop Dogg (already, I'm hooked), as well as the real-life acting talents of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory's Freddie Highmore as Arthur and Mia Farrow, who will play his grandmother. The fantasy plot is a little confusing in summary, but essentially, Arthur's grandparents' house is being threatened by developers, and he decides the only way to save it is to track down his grandfather's mysterious treasure, which he's been told is "hidden somewhere on the 'other side' in the land of the Minimoys" (who are a single centimeter tall, by the way). Arthur somehow reaches the other side, and madcap adventures no doubt ensue.

Besson hopes to have his film ready to premiere at Cannes in May; it has been acquired for American distribution by The Weinstein Company, and will open in here on Christmas.

[via JoBlo]