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In August of this year Buck Rogers will be 80 years old! The franchise which takes place in the year 2419 first started life as a short story in the pulp magazine Amazing Stories has has spawned comic books, novels, toys, serialized movies and two TV series (first in 1950 on ABC and then the disco version in 1979). Now it looks like Nu Image/Millennium Films has acquired film rights to the property and will create a live action film:

Nu Image gets 'Buck Rogers' rights

"Nu Image/Millennium's Avi Lerner got the rights from the Dille Trust, which is run by the surviving family of series originator Frank Dille. Those rights had once been with Disney, but the Dille family was attracted to moving them to a small movie and gaining more control over the direction of the film. Despite web reports that Frank Miller had boarded the project, sources at Millennium disputed than any creatives had yet aligned to the project."

Here's a clip from the 1939 twelve part film serial which starred Buster Crabbe:

These photos look great! Harrison Ford looks like he's in top form:

I've starting to hear quite a bit about Sleep Dealer which is a low budget science fiction film from Mexico which sounds interesting:

Cool Indie Sci-Fi Film Sleep Dealer Gets A Distributor!

"I personally saw the film at last month's screening here in NYC at NEW DIRECTORS/NEW FILMS and loved the film! I think the movie is hot and consider the hybrid movie to be a "Mexican Matrix." Hybrid in the sense that it is both in English and in Spanish, something the trades forgot to mention. The futuristic film creates an environment where Mexican immigrant labor is outsourced from Tijuana via cyber network, with remote-controlled robots working in the United States."

...here are some video clips from the film:

I admit it: I had my doubts and frankly who could blame me for being a cynic after what happened with Star Wars? But I have to say that this new Indiana Jones flick is looking good and I'm getting the sense that Spielberg might be able to deliver the goods. Yes it looks like more of the same, but maybe sometimes that's a good thing?

It looks like Land of the Lost is in production in Hollywood. The key thing that made this old series great was that they had some A+ science fictions writers doing the scripting, I hope the powers that be keep in mind that it's going to take more than slicker Sleestaks to keep us fanboys happy:

Kitschy 'Land of the Lost' gets a modern makeover

"The Land of the Lost film is now shooting on multiple sound stages at Universal Studios, and the Sleestak surface in a temple where Ferrell's character and his two companions (comedian Danny McBride, Pushing Daisies' Anna Friel) are hoping a giant crystal will return them to their own dimension.

The plot involves three adults (not a dad and two kids as on TV) accidentally thrust into a realm ruled by dinosaurs, monkey-men called Pakuni and the murderous Sleestak. Director Brad Silberling (Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events) says he fought to keep the human shape of the Sleestak from Sid & Marty Krofft's original production, and not give into the urge to render them as spindly computerized beings."

Yummy! I can can just taste the marshmallows and peanut butter right now! The funny thing is that I heard this commercial on the radio eons ago, these folks use to sponsor the Jean Shepherd radio show when I was a kid — so it was odd for me to discover a TV commercial. I love the graphic quality of the animation, although I think the best part of the advert is the quality of the jingle, which is a bit of a lost art these days...

Found via Ira Gallen.

Being both a Godzilla fanboy and green tea addict I got quite a kick out of the above commercial spot from Singapore.

Found via dekku.blogspot.com and coloribus.com.

What happens when you mix Robocop with ummm, well I'm not quite sure! I think the true test of a great B movie is if you can't tell the trailer is real or if it's a parody — and the Demolitionist (from 1995) succeeds!

I just found out that Charlton Heston passed away at age 84. While he got his start in films in 1950 and won an Oscar, as a fanboy I'll always associate him with such classic fanboy favorites like Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green and The Omega Man.

Here's an amazing scene from Soylent Green, Charlton Heston's tears at Sol's death were real, as Heston was the only cast member who knew that Edward G. Robinson was dying of terminal cancer. This was the 90th and last movie in which Robinson appeared:

Shown above is the Cylon Life-Size Figure which is available for wealthy Battlestar Galactica fans for $7900:

Cylon Life-Size Figure

"The Life-size Cylon figure, as seen in the reimagined Sci-Fi series 'Battlestar Galactica', is manufactured exclusively by Fred Barton Productions, Inc. of Los Angeles, California, and licensed through Universal Studios. Each Cylon is hand-made using only the finest materials and overseen by the 'Robot Man' himself, Fred Barton."

Seen below is the latest theatrical movie poster for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull by famed film illustrator Drew Struzan:

I hare to admit it, but this looks pretty darn good! I know I made all of those jokes about Geriatric Jones but come May 22nd I get the feeling that this old dorky fanboy is standing on line waiting all day.

Lost fanboys (and fangurls) should check out Sawyer's Nickname Generator — my nickname is Freebird...

Found via zaeega.com.

When ever I think of Fritz Lang the film Metropolis comes to mind, but often folks forget that he did a nice body of film noir projects in the 40s and 50s. It seems that RKO hasn't forgotten this and is now in the process of putting together a remake of the 1956 Lang film Beyond a Reasonable Doubt with Michael Douglas:

Michael Douglas to Remake '50s Legal Drama Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

"The movie in question is a film noir by Fritz Lang, who made such unquestionable classics as M and Metropolis. Beyond a Reasonable Doubt was a sturdy flick starring the underrated Dana Andrews (Laura, The Best Years of Our Lives) as a writer who pins a murder on himself to prove the folly of circumstantial evidence. Heady stuff.

Variety tells us that this time around, Michael Douglas, Amber Tamblyn and Jesse Metcalfe will star in a contemporary remake of the film to be written and directed by Peter Hyams (who's a far cry from Timecop here), and production is expected to begin next month. Having adored the noir touches of Hollywoodland a couple years ago, I wish they'd kept it in the period. I guess with the litigous nature of modern America, it makes sense to skewer the judicial system in the here and now, but I can't help thinking it would be more special as a traditional film noir."

Here's a clip from the film:

Celebrating the Chinese New Year (year of the rat) in fanboy style with Monty Python!

Tomorrow marks the start of the Chinese New Year, so we're exploring fanboy themes relating the Year of the Rat. Rat Patrol was a TV series that ran from 1966 until 1968 which featured the exploits of four Allied soldiers (three American and one Brit) during World War II whose mission was "to attack, harass and wreak havoc on Field Marshal Rommel's vaunted Afrika Korps".

Here are the latest promos for the latest season of Battlestar Galactica, first it's Baltar:

Hollywood is filled with tales of tragedy and excess and Heath Ledger is the newest in a long list of lives cut short in the world of entertainment. At only 28 years of age the young Aussie was just coming into his own as an actor. With his sudden explosion into the big time with Ten Things I Hate About You Heath managed to string together a series of successful roles including A Knight's Tale, The Brothers Grimm and The Order .

It’s the beginning of a new year and is starting to look like the last good batch of movies we will see in a while. The Writer’s Guild of America remains on strike and until that is settled Hollywood will be starting to look rather barren around the end of this year and the start of ‘09. Television is already beginning to feel the sting with the cancellation of 24 this year and a load of Reality Shows ready to hit the mid season lineup. So I thought I would take the opportunity to look ahead to 2008 and see what’s coming up for us in theaters this year:

The above commercial was shown inbetween episodes of Jonny Quest between 1964-65 when B.F. Goodrich, the makers of P.F. Flyers co-sponsored the cartoon. To me there's something very surreal about the connection between the sneakers, spys and an astronaut. Although I love the idea of including a comic book as a bonus when you buy your footwear!

Found via Ira H. Gallen.

Found via ryankg.

This funny series of commercials from Korea for LG PowerCom XSpeed shows off the need for speed.

Kataude mashin gâru (the Machine Girl) is an action comedy from Japan directed by Noboru Iguchi due out in 2008. It looks much more fun than the upcoming Iron Man film, no?

Found via FilmDrunk.

I like the fact that they've let him age in real time and are setting the film in the cold war era:

First look: Whip cracks over new 'Indiana Jones' movie

"Indiana Jones co-producer Frank Marshall is authorized to confirm some rumors and detail some of the story, about a quest for South American relics with supernatural powers.

When last we saw Indy, he was riding off into the sunset in 1989's The Last Crusade, set in 1938 near the start of World War II. The new movie, due this spring, is set at the height of the Cold War in 1957, so the character has aged in real time — 19 years.

The Nazis are no longer Indy's chief foe — he's racing for the Crystal Skull against operatives from the Soviet Union, including Oscar winner Cate Blanchett as the seductive Agent Spalko. "Indy always has a love-hate relationship with every woman he ever comes in contact with," Marshall says."

If your an Orson Welles fanboy you love this website which has mp3 files of the Mercury Theatre radio shows, a great way to fill up your iPod the fanboy way:

The Mercury Theatre on the Air

"The finest radio drama of the 1930’s was The Mercury Theatre on the Air, a show featuring the acclaimed New York drama company founded by Orson Welles and John Houseman. In its brief run, it featured an impressive array of talents, including Agnes Moorehead, Bernard Herrmann, and George Coulouris. The show is famous for its notorious War of the Worlds broadcast, but the other shows in the series are relatively unknown. This site has many of the surviving shows, and will eventually have all of them. The show first broadcast on CBS and CBC in July 1938."

Shown above is the new trailer for the the upcoming Chronicles of Narnia sequel Prince Caspian.

Shown above is the new old Max Headroom, played by original actor Matt Frewer. The good news is that Max won't be back as a Hollywood remake:

Channel 4 resurrects Max Headroom

"Channel 4 is to bring back 1980s creation Max Headroom to front a series of TV ads to raise awareness of the digital switchover. The campaign, which breaks this Saturday, features Matt Frewer, the actor who played the original Max Headroom. Ads will feature Headroom criticising Channel 4, which created the stuttering digital host in the 1980s, for ignoring his vision of a digital future."

In addition to the Dr. Who tv series, Verity Lambert also worked on other classics like Quartermass and Rock Follies:

Doctor Who's first producer dies

"Doctor Who's first producer, and the BBC's first female TV producer, Verity Lambert, has died aged 71. She was also the youngest person to take charge of a BBC television show when the sci-fi drama started in 1963. Lambert oversaw the first two series of Doctor Who before leaving in 1965. Russell T Davies, the current writer and executive producer of Doctor Who, said: "There are a hundred people in Cardiff working on Doctor Who and millions of viewers, in particular many children, who love the programme that Verity helped create. This is her legacy and we will never forget that," he added."

This is a great rant about how Hollywood studios never want to pay writers.

Found via Dvorak.

Andy Kaufman played the character of Andy the Robot in the pilot episode of Stick Around, a Sleeper inspired comedy show set in the year 2055. Pretty much everything i read about Stick Around claims that it never aired, but the odd thing is that the theme song sounds very familar to me so I'm wondering if the show did air or if the theme song was somehow re-used. The funny thing about the pilot is that there are so many references to the 70s to things like inflation.

Found via Peter Bernard.

I tend to avoid covering the mainstream media on this blog, but the above video by the writers of the Daily Show caught my attention and I'd like to share it as the writers do a good (yet enteraining) job of making their point. Being a fanboy at heart my thinking is that what separates compelling entertainment from the mundane is the storytelling, and that starts with the script. Everything flows from that script, and you can throw money at the screen but without the story you have nothing. And so to me taking care of your talent is just smart business.

Found via RumorsDaily.

This film looks like fun! ROBO☆ROCK (formerly titled Long Armed Monkeys) will be coming out November 23rd in Japan. The film follows the adventures of Masaru, an odd-job-man who has given up his dream to become a rock singer and Nirasawa, a fanatic who is convinced that a giant robot will save the world. This will be the first live action film for GDH K.K. which is an anime studio in Japan which has worked on Afro Samurai, Pumpkin Scissors, and Full Metal Panic!

Background info found via Monster Island News.

According to mst3kinfo.com it looks like Mystery Science Theater 3000 will use their website to put out new episodes of the show:

The 'Bots are Back!

"Beginning November 5th, BBI will be launching its very own website at MST3K.com. The site will feature brand-new animated adventures of Crow, Tom Servo and Gypsy. We're told the goal is to have one new adventure each week (though "some settling may occur with shipping," they added). The Web site will also feature work from the original series (which BBI is now calling "the legacy series"), behind-the-scenes footage and other material culled from the BBI vault."

Above: Stanley Kubrick on the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey

There's a great interview with Jan Harlan who was a close associate of Stanley Kubrick on the new Stanley Kubrick DVD Collection at blogcritics.org. The collection sounds amazing, but it seems to be lacking Dr. Strangelove, Lolita, and Barry Lyndon. However I did get excited about this Napoleon book that will be coming out:

"On a side note, are there any other Kubrick-related projects in the works fans can look forward to? Back when it was briefly leaked on the Internet, I had heard rumors of the Napoleon screenplay being released as a book.

You are right. TASCHEN publishers will bring out a comprehensive book on Stanley Kubrick’s Napoleon. Not just the script and treatment, which is not really revealing his true interest in person of Napoleon anyway, but also many pre-production details, designs etc. Stanley had 17000 images carefully collected, re-photographed on 35mm film and mounted in IBM cards for later sorting by clumsy machines. This was the state of the art in 1969. His library on the topic was huge and so was his knowledge. "

As if it's not bad enough that Hollywood has to ruin every classic film by making a lame remake, now Toho is set to ruin the memory of Akira Kurosawa by doing "an update" of the Hidden Fortress:

Toho rebuilds Kurosawa 'Fortress'

"Akira Kurosawa's 1958 action comedy "The Hidden Fortress" ("Kakushi toride no san-akunin") -- said to be the inspiration for "Star Wars" -- will be remade in Japan, producer and distrib Toho has announced. The pic will be helmed by Shinji Higuchi, an SFX whiz also responsible for the hits "Lorelei" (2005) and last year's "The Sinking of Japan" (Nihon chinbotsu)."

There's a great interview with author and film critic Leonard Maltin that's worth checking out for anyone who loves cinema:

Tech Nation: Interview with Leonard Maltin

"Dr. Moira Gunn speaks with movie critic Leonard Maltin, who explains how movies have changed over the years, and how they're changing today, all thanks to technology."

...I've always admired Maltin as he's very much an animation fanboy at heart, if you haven't read it his book "Of Mice and Magic" is well worth checking out.

It's funny as a child of the 70s I remember the above cover of Dynamite magazine pretty well. Of course my favorite issue (which I left out in the rain by accident) was the one that featured a Space:1999 cover (but alas that's a tale for another day).

This cover caught my eye as right now Hollywood is doing a remake of Logan's Run. Now usually even the mention of the word "remake" would set me on edge as it would bring visions of some unoriginal Hollywood hack mining my childhood for ideas. However this cover made me take off my rose colored glasses and realize that how back in the day if a film that did well it might be followed up by a very bad TV show based upon on it. And the Logan's Run TV show was about as bad as it got!

Just looking at those actors above and you can taste the cheesy flavor in your mouth. For starters they break the golden 70s rule that if you have one guy with black hair the other guy has to have blond hair. Every show from Starsky and Hutch to the Dukes of Hazzard followed this winning formula. And then you have the lady in the middle, it's like they knew they couldn't get Jessica Lang or Farrah Fawcett (who had a minor role in the film) so they figured "well let's just give her a Farrah Fawcett haircut and maybe nobody will notice". And what's sad about the show is that while I can remember this magazine cover perfectly, I can't recall even the slightest plot detail of a single episode — althought my bet is that I must have watched the entire series back in the day.

Check out this amazing set of classic film "the end" titles at Flickr.

Found via Neatorama and SwissMiss.

I don't know if the film will be as good as the promotional artwork shown above (sort of reminds me of a cross between King Kong and the Towering Inferno) but Dragon Wars will be hitting theaters today. The trailer below looks cute, although I have to admit that the Korean subtitles may make the film seem more interesting than it may actually be:

Between the era of Star Trek re-runs (maybe 1974?) and the dawn of Star Wars (1976) my favorite show in the universe was Space:1999. I must have only been nine years old when the show came out, but man did it make an impression on me for years to come. Every year when it's September 13th I always think of the first episode which was titled Breakaway.

Not only is Tarantino correct that he was talking up Casino Royale before it was made, but also his vision of setting the film in the 60s was much more creative:

Tarantino hits out at Bond remake

"Director Quentin Tarantino has slammed the Casino Royale producers for making the movie without his input, according to the UK movie magazine, Total Film. Tarantino, 44, best known for hit cult films like Pulp Fiction, said remaking the Bond movie was originally his idea.

"I never saw Casino Royale because I was so mad at those guys," he said. "They said publicly that Casino Royale was un-filmable. The minute I said I would do Casino Royale, it's on all the websites and it is the film that people want to see. They should have said thank you, " added Tarantino."

The interesting thing to me about Logan's Run is that when it came out it was a very adult science fiction film, in fact I read the book eons ago and I think it was more racey than the film as I recall. Also the theme of 'only being allowed to live until 21' seemed to be an indirect reference to the generation gap of the Vietnam War era. It will be interesting to see if director Joseph Kosinski can tap into these themes by going with a low tech approach:

Shown above the trailer for the sequal for Aliens vs. Predator, yawn! Why can't Hollywood come up with something more interesting like 'MechaAliens vs. Godzilla' or 'Aliens vs. the Klingon Empire'?

You know when the Sci Fi channel is at it's best? Not when it's churning out remakes of old shows, but when it's showing them. Right now I'm enjoying a healthy bit of early 70s nastolgia thanks to a reshowing of Beneath the Planet of the Apes. My childhood seems to be filled with tons of Apes related memories, everything from the spin-off TV show (which was pretty much Starsky and Hutch with a bunch of apes) and even record albums.

Reading up on the movie it was the first sequal of the series, or the first step from being a cool 60s art film to a schlockmeister 70s sequel. Although the film has everything a fanboy could want: apes on the war path, mutant humans, the ruins of New York City, a few minutes with Charlton Heston, some gun action and horses, and the world blowing up at the end with a left over atomic bomb from the 20th century. And as with any apes flick the music is half the fun!

I think what makes this film work (and why it stuck in my head) is that they were willing to tell a story that would keep you going. Also not only were they willing to kill of the main character, but also blow up the entire planet. Of course this didn't stop them from making prequals to bring back the apes for more entertainment. Besides how can't you love a film that ends with:

"In one of the countless billions of galaxies in the universe, lies a medium-sized star, and one of its satellites, a green and insignificant planet, is now dead."

I've been hearing a great deal about the Hong Kong film Eye in the Sky which just came out in June:

Is EYE IN THE SKY A New Hong Kong Masterpiece?!

"Eye in the Sky is an eye-catching masterpiece which urgently reminds us that the Hong Kong Cinema is not dead yet. This vibrant crime thriller casts a ray of hope onto the struggling film industry over there, telling us there are still some new, daring filmmakers working with passion and creative ideas in Hong Kong.

The movie is about an inconspicuous yet important unit of Police Force --- the Surveillance Unit. The officers working in this unit mostly spend their time on endlessly waiting for their targets, following the suspects, setting up eavesdropping bugs and preparing tracking devices. They usually don’t need to participate in any action or use their guns. So how can a movie about people doing these boring jobs be so interesting? It’s because we have ignored the very nature of their job --- they can only do things in secret and cannot afford any minor mistake. Once their covers are blown, so is the whole operation. To spice up the dramatic elements, the villains in the movie are not stupid at all --- they also counter-surveillance to get away from the police. It’s a deadly cat-and-mouse game that is not only about physical strength but also about quick wit, patience and focus."

I wonder who will be the next Arnold:

Millennium wins rights to 'Conan'

"In a seven-figure deal, Millennium Films has acquired the rights to make a new series of pics based on Robert E. Howard's mythical conqueror Conan the Barbarian. Company's aim is to start production by next spring.

Malmberg declined to renew another option with Warners when the rights lapsed in spring. He was frustrated that seven years' worth of development at WB had not yielded a production start on the franchise that launched the film career of Arnold Schwarzenegger in its first bigscreen go-round.

The recent summer success of branded properties like "Spider-Man," "The Simpsons" and "Transformers" led to a receptive marketplace for Conan. The property already is a globally established brand that has 40 licenses including a top-selling Dark Horse comicbook, an upcoming vidgame for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and the Funcom/Eidos massively multiplayer online role-playing game "Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures"."

I have to admit that I'm already pre-sold on this film! Be Kind Rewind is directed by Michel Gondry which makes it promising to me, but it's the references to 2001: A Space Odyssey, Back to the Future, and Robocop wins over this fanboy. The film will hit theaters in late December this year.

I have to admit that I'm sort of getting burned out on Blade Runner in my old age, but this DVD set does look like it would make even the most cynical fanboy quite happy around Christmas time:

'Blade Runner' gets final cut
DVD set will include five versions of Scott pic

"For a film that defined what it meant to be a "director's cut" for the masses, "Blade Runner" has waited 25 years to receive a proper one. On Dec. 18, Warner will release "Blade Runner: The Final Cut," the definitive version of director Ridley Scott's fusion of film noir and science fiction, which has become a cult classic since its initial failure at the box office in 1982. One of Warner's most popular titles today, the film will be available in both HD formats and in three different DVD editions, with the final cut also receiving select theatrical playdates in New York, Los Angeles and the Venice Film Fest."

And just in case you don't belive me:

Was that suppose to be funny?

78 years ago today Stanley Kubrick was born in New York City, and cinema would never be the same again. It sounds selfish but I remember that upon hearing that he had passed away in 1999 that my first emotion was of being cheated out of looking ahead to his next film. Kubrick was always cloaked in secrecy and waiting ten years between film always seemed to add to the anticipation of what was to come.

Here are a few of my recent random thoughts on Kubrick:

Barry Lyndon: I feel like this film has been over looked, yet it has so much to say about life. I'll always channel surf and come across the Shining and Full Metal Jacket, but never Barry Lyndon. The blame on this one may go to fanboys who prefer science fiction and horror flicks, but as someone who loves cinema I have to say that this film is true gem.

Eyes Wide Shut: Now that I look back on it, the only problem with this film was Cruise and Kidman. Cruise did a great job acting in Magnolia and Kidman was A+ in the Hours, but their lack of chemistry seemed to ruin Eyes Wide Shut for me. Then again I also feel that Leonardo DiCaprio has ruined every recent Martin Scorsese fim.

A.I.: Artificial Intelligence: Looking back on it I think Steven Spielberg did a great job directing this film, I think his only sin was releasing it so soon after Kubrick passed away. I wonder of this film came out today if it wouldn't get a bit more respect? Even though it looks like a Spielberg it does feel very produced by Kubrick. I think as time goes by this film will get more respect.

It looks like Farscape is coming back to the Sci Fi channel, although they're not quite sure in what form:

Exclusive Interview: Sci Fi Channel Executive Vice President Dave Howe Talks 'Farscape' Webisodes & 'Flash Gordon'

"The biggest announcement was that FARSCAPE would be returning care of SCI FI Channel and Jim Henson Productions via a new 10-episode webisdoe series, but there were some other questions we needed answered about projects on one of our favorite networks."

While looking around this cool poster website I came across this great print promoting the James Bond film Casino Royale in Japan. I love the wild look of the design, it's quite playful for a cold war spy movie.

You know I loved Kill Bill, but I'm not sure we need more of it:

Producer Pledges Two More Kill Bill Installments

"According to E. Bennet Walsh, an Executive Producer of Kill Bill, Tarantino has formulated the plots for two sequels and may be heading back to China to film them. Part 3 would revolve around the revenge of two members of the Crazy 88s. Part 4 would focus on the daughters of Beatrix Kiddo and Vernita Green getting square, as was previously rumoured. Some even claim that the (previously unrevealed) daughters of Elle Driver and Gogo Yubari would also be featured."

Found via ifitsmovies.com

I'd love to see an animated Gorey film, but it's still neat to think that one of his tales is headed for the silver screen:

Gorey tale coming to screen for first time

"The world of Edward Gorey is coming to the big screen for the first time with a live-action feature based on the illustrator-writer's classic tale "The Doubtful Guest."

The project is being developed by Walden Media, the firm behind the "Narnia" franchise, Fox 2000 and the Jim Henson Co. Brad Peyton ("Evelyn: The Cutest Evil Dead Girl") will direct from a script written by Matthew Huffman.

Originally published in 1957, the whimsical story revolves around a quirky family whose life is turned upside down when a mysterious, mischievous creature arrives unannounced and unwelcome, bringing trouble with him and wreaking havoc."

I almost missed this story, I love that the Mach 5 still has that vintage 60s sports car look:

Speed Racer's Car Revealed

"As you're almost certainly aware, the Wachowski brothers are back back back with an adaptation of Speed Racer, the cult anime where all the characters mouths stopped moving several seconds after their dialogue stopped. And, as the title might have clued you into, the series was a little bit car-centric, following a wide-eyed boy racer as he seeks to become world champion with the help of his faithful monkey (because why wouldn't a driver have a monkey?). And today USA, er, Today offer the first look at his car. And very faithful it is to the cartoon. They also have a few other snippets, like the fact that the monkey will be real and not CG and is actually a chimp.

Speed Racer is released next August and has a cracker of a cast, including Emile Hirsch, John Goodman, Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon and Matthew Fox. And a monkey. Sorry, a chimp."

Shown above is funny ad produced in India for Fevicol, which is a well known local glue product.

Found via Masala Time.