Theinsneider has reported Jason Reitman (Saturday Night and Ghostbusters: Afterlife) has been hired by Sony Pictures to engage in another adaptation of the 1952 manga Astro Boy.
Created by artist Osamu Tezuka, Astro Boy charts the adventures of an android boy created by a scientist called Umataro Tenma in an act of grief following the death of his son. The manga was first adapted for the big screen in a 2009 animation directed by David Bowers and written by both Bowers and Timothy Hyde Harris. Released under Imagi Animation Studios, it featured the voice work of Freddie Highmore, Kristen Bell, Nathan Lane, Eugene Levy, Matt Lucas, Bill Nighy, Donald Sutherland, Charlize Theron, and Nicolas Cage.
Made from a budget of $65 million, the adaptation became a commercial mixed bag and a critical bomb when it only earned back 64.62% of its budget at the box office. Astro Boy was the final film made by Imagi due to its poor financial performance, with the studio ceasing creation in February 2010.
17 years on, Sony Pictures will revisit the source material for a new film and is hoping to turn the manga into a four-quadrant feature with every nuclear family member being appealed to. The studio has yet to sign on any writers, and it’s unclear exactly what role Reitman will play in the reboot. Gil Keenan – who co-wrote Ghostbusters: Afterlife and directed Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire – is also reported to be involved.
Following a career in short filmmaking and a 2005 feature debut with Thank You for Smoking, a black comedy, Reiman’s other projects include 2007’s dark comedy cult classic Juno, 2011’s comedy-drama Young Adult, the 2013 Labor Day adaptation and 2014’s Men, Women and Children.
Related
Discover more from
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
