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.

Many thanks to Erik for filling in for me on last week's Trailer Park. Now that I'm all rested and recreated, let's look at some films that take us to some weird place either internally or externally. This week on Trailer Park we're traveling from the inner mind to the outer limits.

Right at Your Door
In an all too believable scenario, several dirty bombs are detonated in Los Angeles, sending a radioactive cloud into the sky. Rory Cochrane -- who to me will always be that little stoner from Dazed and Confused -- plays Brad, a man whose wife has gone into the city and he wonders if he'll ever see her again. With the roads jammed, he attempts to make his home as airtight as possible, sealing up every crack and crevice. The radio warns against contact with anyone who was in the vicinity of the blasts as they will be highly contaminated, so when Brad's wife finally does make it back, it's not the happy homecoming we had all hoped for. As realistic as the premise may be, the trailer had me thinking about zombie movies. A large scale catastrophe which results in people barricading themselves inside for fear of the people outside? Sounds like Night of the Living Dead to me, which itself used radiation to explain the menace. Bleak and apocalyptic but fascinating as hell, I'm looking forward to seeing this one. The film starts its limited theatrical release to U.S. theaters on August 24. Have a look at the trailer right here:


The Nines
Usually I find myself gritting my teeth over trailers that don't actually tell you what the movie is about. Isn't that the whole point? This trailer plays its hand close to its vest, not really telling the viewer what's going on, but showing enough to really make me curious. Delightfully vague is how I would describe it. Ryan Reynolds plays three characters: a troubled actor, a television show runner, and an acclaimed videogame designer who find their lives intertwining in mysterious and unsettling ways. There appears to be some Matrix-esque reality bending at work here. Are these three different aspects of the same person? Are these characters in a computer game? Am I dying to find out? A resounding "yup" to the former. Cinematical's own Erik Davis posted an exclusive look at the poster here. The Nines goes into limited release on August 31.

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 (!).

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.

Man alive -- considering how much work George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic is getting these days, it's a wonder any other effects houses can stay in business. Hot on the heels of its "Oh my God that tentacle-face is soooo realistic!" success with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, the company has a packed slate of projects due to be released in the next 18 months or so. In addition to its continued status as effects overlord for the POTC and Harry Potter franchises, ILM is also at work on Paramount's The Spiderwick Chronicles (due out in December 2007), Eragon (December 2006), Evan Almighty and Transformers (both summer 2007). And, as an added bonus, the company seems to have become the go-to house for companies wishing to render 2-D films in three dimensions: After successfully converting Chicken Little earlier this year, ILM is now working on getting Tim Burton's wonderful The Nightmare Before Christmas ready for its 3-D Halloween re-release. And then they'll break for lunch.