David Bowers Directs Astro Boy
Flushed Away Director Now Helming Imagi/The Weinstein Company Movie
David Bowers (Flushed Away) is the new director of Imagi's adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's classic anime Astro Boy. Movie comes to theatres in late 2009.
David Bowers has replaced Colin Brady as the director of Imagi Animation's upcoming CGI movie Astro Boy, announced Imagi's co-CEO and creative officer Francis Kao and Cecil Kramer, executive VP of production.
“I'm incredibly excited to be working again with David," said Astro Boy producer Maryann Garger in the announcement. "Not only is he a visionary director, but he brings extraordinary passion and care to his films.”
Garger co-produced the 2006 DreamWorks Animation/Aardman film Flushed Away, which was directed by Bowers.
Osamu Tezuka Created Robot Boy
Astro Boy was created in 1951 by Osamu Tezuka, who was later called "the god of manga." It has become one of the most popular cartoon characters, and its popularity among Asians rivaling that of Disney's Mickey Mouse.
The anime followed the adventures of the titular robot, who was designed by scientist Doctor Tenma to replace his son, who died in a car accident. When Astro Boy was unable to act exactly like his dead child, Tenma sold him to a cruel circus owner. Another scientist, Professor Ochanomizu, eventually bought Astro Boy and became his benevolent guardian, encouraging the robot to use his powers to fight evil and injustice.
Here's the synopsis for the flick, taken from the Imagi website: "Astro Boy tells the story of a powerful robot boy created by a brilliant scientist in the image of the son he has lost. Our hero journeys to find acceptance in the human world, and ultimately discovers true friendship as he uses his incredible powers to help others and save Metro City from destruction."
So yes, this version of Astro Boy will be an "origins" tale, and adhere faithfully to Tezuka's original storyline.
Flushed Away Director "Lifelong" Fan of Astro Boy
“I've had a lifelong affection for the original Astro Boy," said Bowers in the announcement, "so am looking forward to giving him the full action-adventure Hollywood treatment. His story is both emotional and spectacular, so it absolutely lends itself to the big screen. With the amazing crew that Imagi has assembled, I feel there's an opportunity to create something very special – a film to surprise audiences, have them on the edge of their seats, and hopefully make them laugh, too.”
Bowers started as an in-betweener on the 1988 Disney film Who Framed Roger Rabbit? He later joined the newly-founded DreamWorks Animation, where he was a storyboard artist on Prince of Egypt and The Road to El Dorado. While at DreamWorks, he met Aardman executives Nick Park and Peter Lord, who put him to work storyboarding many of the major set pieces for 2000's Chicken Run.
After the success of that movie, Bowers bounced between Bristol, UK (Aardman's home base) and DreamWorks' Glendale studios, working on Shark Tale and the Oscar-winning animated film Wallace and Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
Bowers was then tapped to direct 2006's Flushed Away. Despite bombing (largely due to its $145 million studio costs, which proved impossible to recoup at the box office), Flushed Away won 5 Annie Awards.
Will Astro Boy Be Part of 2009 Anime Invasion?
Astro Boy will be one of four anime-style films coming to North American theatres in 2009. Imagi is also releasing their CGI take on another classic anime, Gatchaman, earlier that year.
Not only that, there looks to be an interesting father-son showdown between anime directors Hayao and Goro Miyazaki. Goro Miyazaki's first film, Tales from Earthsea (Gedo Senki in Japan), will finally be able to reach domestic theatres in '09. Given the film's success in Japan, where it smashed box office records, it's very likely that Disney will exercise its distribution deal with Studio Ghibli and bring Tales from Earthsea to North America.
Not only that, anime legend Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away) is releasing his next film, Ponyo on a Cliff, in July. If the movie does well in Japanese theatres (a likely scenario, given Miyazaki's stature), then Disney will also release that film to domestic distribution. Given that so many solid animes are coming to domestic theatres, could 2009 be the year that the genre achieves critical mass in North America? Stay tuned.
Imagi's re-imagining of Astro Boy flies into theatres in late 2009.
