Speed Racer Movie

IN THE Wachowski brothers' new movie, "Speed Racer," the eponymous main character (Emile Hirsch) and his family seem to live in a modern ranch house in midcentury suburbia. The hallmarks of the era are there: graphic wallpaper, bold colors, bamboo accents and streamlined furniture upholstered in nubby fabric. But there's also a futuristic television and a spotless workshop where Speed's dad, Pops (John Goodman), makes battery-operated race cars that can defy gravity.

"Speed Racer" was lapped in its opening weekend at the box office as "Iron Man" continued to fire its jets with $50.5 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. The anime-inspired race movie edged into the No. 2 spot with $20.2 million, slightly ahead of the 20th Century Fox comedy "What Happens in Vegas," which premiered at $20 million. "Our tracking was stalled toward the end," Dan Fellman, president of Warner Bros.

Chim Chim must be doing back flips. Warner Bros. is back on track with development of a live-action film adaptation of the popular Japanese-cartoon series "Speed Racer," the studio said Thursday. The "Speed" project, idling in Warner's slow lane for about a decade, shifted back into high gear after actor Vince Vaughn ("DodgeBall") sold the studio on his own concept for the movie, with Vaughn cast as the title character's mysterious big brother, Racer X, a studio spokeswoman said.

The stakes in the industry's most competitive moviegoing season are high for all Hollywood studios, which spend heavily to sell their big-budget popcorn titles around the world. This summer, the risks are particularly steep for Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. studio, which has hundreds of millions of dollars riding on three major releases: “Speed Racer,” the Batman sequel “The Dark Knight” and “Get Smart,” a big-screen adaptation of the 1960s sitcom.

"Speed Racer" was lapped in its opening weekend at the box office as "Iron Man" continued to fire its jets with $50.5 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. The anime-inspired race movie edged into the No. 2 spot with $20.2 million, slightly ahead of the 20th Century Fox comedy "What Happens in Vegas," which premiered at $20 million. "Our tracking was stalled toward the end," Dan Fellman, president of Warner Bros.

The Wachowski brothers' souped up, kaleidoscopic upgrade of "Speed Racer" may look like "The Matrix" on happy pills and feature an A-list cast (including Emile Hirsch, Matthew Fox and Susan Sarandon), but the real stars are the tricked-out cars that hurtle along tracks at 300 mph and battle each other midair. As in its cartoon forebear, Speed's gleaming Mach 5 is outfitted with a few special features that would make even James Bond jealous. Per the Wachowskis' dictate, the gadgets don't stray far from the original versions, just enough to offer up a few surprises.

The stakes in the industry's most competitive moviegoing season are high for all Hollywood studios, which spend heavily to sell their big-budget popcorn titles around the world. This summer, the risks are particularly steep for Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. studio, which has hundreds of millions of dollars riding on three major releases: “Speed Racer,” the Batman sequel “The Dark Knight” and “Get Smart,” a big-screen adaptation of the 1960s sitcom.

The magenta sunglasses, the ones with cartoonish reptilian texture, were inspired by a toy monster. The overwhelmingly chrome shades? A Munich street performer once wore something similar. Each pair in the Black Flys line comes with a story. Jack A. Martinez, who designed them all, holds up a big, blocky pair. "Like my mother wore in the mid-'70s." In the realm of sunglasses, an optically correct domain ruled by classic Ray-Bans and sleek Oakleys, Black Flys has emerged as an upstart.

Content is something Michael McCullough takes for granted. As editor of the new Costa Mesa-based Lava magazine, he admits, "We never know which way we're gonna flow." Consider the contents of Lava's first few issues: a fashion spread of underwear and clogs; a review of some foreign liqueur affectionately called "Sammy" and critical reviews of "Speed Racer the Movie," a boxing nun toy and Gumby watches.

IN THE Wachowski brothers' new movie, "Speed Racer," the eponymous main character (Emile Hirsch) and his family seem to live in a modern ranch house in midcentury suburbia. The hallmarks of the era are there: graphic wallpaper, bold colors, bamboo accents and streamlined furniture upholstered in nubby fabric. But there's also a futuristic television and a spotless workshop where Speed's dad, Pops (John Goodman), makes battery-operated race cars that can defy gravity.

The Wachowski brothers' souped up, kaleidoscopic upgrade of "Speed Racer" may look like "The Matrix" on happy pills and feature an A-list cast (including Emile Hirsch, Matthew Fox and Susan Sarandon), but the real stars are the tricked-out cars that hurtle along tracks at 300 mph and battle each other midair. As in its cartoon forebear, Speed's gleaming Mach 5 is outfitted with a few special features that would make even James Bond jealous. Per the Wachowskis' dictate, the gadgets don't stray far from the original versions, just enough to offer up a few surprises.

Chim Chim must be doing back flips. Warner Bros. is back on track with development of a live-action film adaptation of the popular Japanese-cartoon series "Speed Racer," the studio said Thursday. The "Speed" project, idling in Warner's slow lane for about a decade, shifted back into high gear after actor Vince Vaughn ("DodgeBall") sold the studio on his own concept for the movie, with Vaughn cast as the title character's mysterious big brother, Racer X, a studio spokeswoman said.