Astro Boy | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | David Bowers |
Produced by |
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Screenplay by |
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Story by | David Bowers |
Based on |
Astro Boy by Osamu Tezuka |
Starring | |
Music by | John Ottman |
Cinematography | Pepe Valencia |
Edited by | Robert Anich Cole |
Production
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Distributed by | Summit Entertainment |
Release date
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Running time
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95 minutes |
Country |
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Language | English |
Budget | $65 million |
Box office | $41.6 million |
Astro Boy is a 2009 Hong Kong-Americancomputer-animated science fiction action comedy-drama superhero film loosely based on the manga series of the same name by the Japanese writer and illustrator Osamu Tezuka. It was produced by Imagi Animation Studios, and directed by David Bowers, who co-wrote the screenplay with Timothy Harris. Freddie Highmore provides the voice of Astro Boy in the film alongside the voices of Kristen Bell, Nathan Lane, Eugene Levy, Matt Lucas, Bill Nighy, Donald Sutherland, Charlize Theron and Nicolas Cage.
The film was released first in Hong Kong on October 8, 2009 and in the United States on October 23, 2009. It received mixed reviews from film critics and was a box office bomb, earning $41 million worldwide on a $65 million budget.
Toby Tenma is a teenager who lives in the futuristic city-state Metro City, which floats above the polluted "Surface". Toby's father, Dr. Tenma, is a famous roboticist and head of the Ministry of Science, but has a distant relationship with his son. Dr. Tenma meets the city's obstructive leader President Stone to demonstrate a new defensive robot called the Peacekeeper. To power it, Tenma's friend Dr. Elefun unveils the Blue and Red Core, two energy spheres which have opposing positive and negative energy. Stone has the destructive Red Core placed into the Peacekeeper, causing it to go berserk, leading to Toby being disintegrated after sneaking into the room.