“New York, I Love You” is going to premiere at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival! The festival, which runs from September 4-13, will showcase 249 feature films and 63 shorts from 64 countries this year, including 116 world premieres.

And 12 international filmmakers, including Scarlett Johansson and Nathalie Portman, are to showcase a litany of short films describing love in the Big Apple in “New York, I Love You,” featuring performances from Orlando Bloom, Christina Ricci, Hayden Christensen, Andy Garcia, Ethan Hawke, Kevin Bacon, and James Caan.

From AFP

Lionsgate’s CG-animated feature “Alpha and Omega” will be a stereoscopic 3-D release.

Lionsgate and Crest Animation Prods. are co-financing and co-producing the film, scheduled for theatrical release April 16, 2010. The story follows two mismatched young wolves thrown together by circumstance.

The voice cast includes Justin Long, Hayden Panettiere, Christina Ricci, Danny Glover, Larry Miller and Dennis Hopper.

The film is the second 3-D project announced by Lionsgate. The first, “My Bloody Valentine 3-D,” is in postproduction and slated to open Jan. 16.

From the Hollywood Reporter

The US DVD release for Speed Racer will be September 16, 2008! You can purchase the film in Wide Screen, Full Screen or Blu-Ray format.

Get ready for some futuristic racing on DVD and high-def this September. Speed Racer will be releasesd on DVD and Blu-Ray on September 16. The standard edition disc will be priced at $28.98 SRP while the three-disc Blu-Ray set will cost $35.99 SRP. The film stars Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, John Goodman and Matthew Fox.

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Christina Ricci, Anjelica Huston, Josh Lucas and Justin Bartha will star in Adam Davidson’s drama “Long Time Gone.”

In the feature, based on April Stevens’ 1994 debut novel “Angel Angel,” Ricci will play a mysterious woman who enters the life of a dysfunctional family and turns it upside down, one member at a time.

GreeneStreet Films International president Amy Beecroft is repping international sales of the feature, and ICM is handling domestic rights

Karen McCullah Lutz adapted the book, and is producing with Seth Jaret’s Jaret Entertainment and Steven G. Kaplan & Gregg L. Daniel’s Rainstorm Entertainment.

Davidson won the Palme d’Or for best short film and an Oscar for his 1989 short “The Lunch Date,” and has directed numerous TV series.

From the Hollywood Reporter. Thanks to Frank for the heads up!

This summer, audiences everywhere will get a chance to experience the ultimate high-octane ride with the release of Speed Racer, the revolutionary new live-action adventure from the Wachowski brothers, creators of The Matrix Trilogy.

The film is based on the pioneering Japanese cartoon series by Tatsuo Yoshida, which has garnered a worldwide following that spans generations. Among the young fans of the property were Larry and Andy Wachowski. “They fell in love with Speed Racer when they first saw it,” explains Joel Silver, the veteran producer of The Matrix Trilogy, as well as such blockbuster film franchises as Lethal Weapon and Die Hard. “Speed Racer was a progenitor of today’s Japanese animation, and was discovered by kids all over the world. What captured the Wachowskis’ imaginations about the series was how different it was from the other American cartoons at the time. And, of course, they went on to become big fans of animé, which inspired a lot of their work.”

When the Wachowskis approached Silver about making the first-ever live action adaptation of Speed Racer, the producer understood that this adaptation would be anything but conventional. “They created a visual style on The Matrix that altered your consciousness as you watched the movie. You saw things that you could not imagine happening on film,” Silver says. “And with Speed Racer, they really want to change the way you see movies again. They had a concept of a cinematic style that is incredible to experience. It’s a whole different way of visual storytelling that has never been seen before; they love to break the mold, and they wanted to keep the essence of Speed Racer, but take it into the new millennium.”

While The Matrix Trilogy revolutionized visceral action for adults, Silver points out that Speed Racer is both an action ride featuring racecar driving as it has never been seen before and the Wachowskis’ first film for audiences of all ages. “The boys felt that this was finally a movie that their nieces and nephews could see,” he explains. “When they wrote the script, they wrote it as a pure family movie; it was an opportunity for them to do something they’ve never done before. It’s for everybody; it’s got great characters; it’s funny; it’s got great action beats and, of course, incredible visuals. It’s just a really fun movie.”

The film centers on Speed Racer’s journey to become the best racecar driver on the circuit on his own terms. To find an actor with the right mix of youthful enthusiasm and competitive intensity, the filmmakers cast Emile Hirsch, who recently garnered universal accolades for his performance in Into the Wild. “Speed Racer, for me, is about a guy who loves racing and does everything he can to do it the way he wants to do it,” says the actor. “Speed eats, drinks, thinks and breathes racing. Cars and racing are the essence of the family. I mean, their last name is Racer.”

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Today, Speed Racer is released in theaters worldwide! Make sure you go to your local cinema this weekend to support the film!

In the first installment of SPEED ZONE, CBR News spoke with “Speed Racer” producer Joel Silver about the live-action adaptation of the classic auto racing anime television series. We then spoke with co-star Matthew Fox, who portrays Racer X, and we bring you now an interview with actors John Goodman, Susan Sarandon and Christina Ricci about the hotly anticipated Wachowski Brothers film, which opens May 9.

Despite the technical wizardry on display in “Speed Racer,” actor John Goodman dismisses the notion the film is a light pop confection. Goodman, who plays the title character’s father, Pops Racer, says the story is deep, explaining, “You have a son that sacrifices the rest of his life with his family to clean up something his family has a passion for. You got a kid with a deep passion for the same sport that has the potential to be corrupt but [he] chooses to be pure. And that’s based on family love.”

Each actor said their primary motivation to work on the film was the opportunity to collaborate with the Wachowksis. Christina Ricci plays Speed’s girlfriend Trixie, and said when she reads scripts she asks, “Does anything in the movie seem like it’ll be fun? Is there anything about this character that’s challenging?” In the case of this film, “I didn’t think twice about it.”

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