I'm assuming Ricci is Trixie? Great casting! She's one of the few actresses I can see pull of that trademark Trixie yell. Now if only Hirsch can do the famous Speed cry of fear as well. If you don't remember the English-dubbed series, there's *no way* in hell I can describe those exceedingly funny screams of fear from the cartoon! Man, i wish we could upload sound! Didn't I read that Vince Vaugh is playing Racer X? While I don't think he has the look of Racer X--unless he hits the gym--I will say Vaugh's ability to do rapid-fire speaking is a perfect rif on the too-fast English voice acting of the Americanized cartoon.
Christina Ricci is joining "Matrix" creators Larry and Andy Wachowski's live-action adaptation of the 1960s cartoon "Speed Racer." Emile Hirsch, Susan Sarandon and John Goodman already have boarded the high-octane Warner Bros. project, which is based on the anime series created by Tatsuo Yoshida for Japanese audiences and later imported to the U.S. "Speed" centers on a young race car driver, Speed (Hirsch), and his quest for glory in his thundering, gadget-laden vehicle Mach 5. Ricci will star as Speed's girlfriend Trixie, his formidable ally on and off the track. The show revolved around Speed's family. In the big-screen adaptation, Goodman will play Pops, a race car owner and builder. Sarandon is on board as Pops' wife, the backbone of the family as well as the Mach 5 Go Racing Team. The Wachowskis, who are writing and directing, are eyeing a summer shoot in Berlin with a summer 2008 release. The casting is a change in direction for Ricci, who has tended to star in such indie-oriented fare as "Monster," "Penelope" and the recent "Black Snake Moan." She also appeared on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy," a turn that earned her an Emmy nomination last year. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
