Lead role cast for Speed Racer

Quick anime update. According to Digital50.com, the lead role in Speed Racer (naturally, that of Speed) in the upcoming Speed Racer live-action flick by the anime-loving Wachowskis will be played by Emile Hirsch.

Never heard of him? Yeah, me neither.

Nice to see they've finally settled on someone, though. Apparently, they were considering Johnny Depp at some point. Yeah ... that would have been interesting. From ragged, rascally pirate to an angst-inflicted, anime teenage character. Was Speed "angsty"? I don't remember ... it's been far too long since I watched the series. I just hope they remember to include the monkey. It's all about the monkey!

The movie is scheduled for a May 9, 2008 release, so that gives them less than a year to shoot the entire thing, taking post-production into account. Let's see how this goes. Also, in case you missed it, Ghost in the Shell is going live-action, too. Still no news of Cameron's Battle Angel Alita movie ... I wonder if the project has been scrapped altogether.

[Via ANN]