New Line is in negotiations to come on board a live-action “Astro Boy” movie, and it’s tapped “San Andreas” writers Andre Fabrizio and Jeremy Passmore to pen the script.
The development comes a year after Animal Logic (“The Lego Movie”) and Tezuka Prods. announced that they were developing the project.
A $65 million CGI-animated “Astro Boy” was released in 2009 by Imagi Animation Studios, based on the mangas and anime series by Osamu Tezuka and voiced by Freddie Highmore. The film grossed $40 million worldwide.
Astro Boy first appeared in a Japanese manga series from 1951 to 1968, selling over 100 million copies worldwide. The character was the star of a TV series in 1980 and 2003.
The feature will be produced by Zareh Nalbandian from Animal Logic, with Jason Lust as executive producer along with Mike Callaghan and Reuben Liber from Ranger 7 Films.
Animal Logic’s credits on design, animation and visual effects include “The Lego Movie,” “Happy Feet,” “The Great Gatsby,” “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” and “300.” It’s currently in production on “Lego Ninjago,” “Lego Batman” and Chen Kaige’s “The Monk.”
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Fabrizio and Passmore originally sold “San Andreas” to New Line as a pitch, then wrote the script for the 2015 Dwayne Johnson actioner. The team is repped by CAA, Adam Goldworm of Aperture Entertainment and Robert Szymanski at Eclipse Law Corp.
The news about New Line was first reported by the Hollywood Reporter.
