"Astro Boy," based on the long-standing manga and anime series of the same name, rockets into theaters this weekend with an impressive voice cast that includes Freddie Highmore, Kristen Bell and Nicolas Cage.

While the animated adaptation already has connections to the comic book world by its very nature, several members of the film's cast have their own ties to the paneled page outside of "Astro Boy"—just check out the following five actors to see their connections to other comic book and superhero-related projects! Read more...

Geoff Johns opened up with some episode titles and director info for his two-part "Smallville" story that's coming up, and Tom Welling will direct the second part, titled "Legends," according to those tweets. Johns said he has the utmost confidence that Hawkman, Dr. Fate and Stargirl will be treated with respect.

Todd Nauck, meanwhile, showed some tweet respect to Johns, dedicating a Slurpee pic to him. You can find that, along with Chip Zdarsky's Astro Boy artwork, Edgar Wright's evaluation of "The Vampire's Assistant" and Mark Waid's post from Singapore.

They're all waiting after the jump in the Friday Twitter Report for October 23, 2009. Read more...

By John Constantine

Given every major film studio's propensity for pumping out big-screen adaptations, whether they be of comic books, novels, musicals, or theme park rides, it's strange that we haven't seen many anime flicks.

Discounting all but forgotten direct-to-video trash like 1991's "The Guyver," there have really only been three Western-made anime adaptations. I'm reluctant to even count last year's practically budget-less "Dragonball: Evolution", so that leaves the Wachowski siblings' hallucinogenic "Speed Racer" and this week's "Astro Boy".

It's fitting that those two are the first anime properties to receive a significant marketing push and budget from their respective studios considering that their cartoon inspirations were among the very first anime to reach America way back in the 1960s. It is, however, a miracle that they were released at all. Read more...

As "Astro Boy" prepares to lift-off into theaters this weekend, the many cast and crew members of the film are making the press rounds to discuss the upcoming manga adaptation's plot and thematic elements.

In an interview with Comic Book Resources, director David Bowers described the basic set-up for the plot of "Astro Boy," which is essentially an origin story focusing on the relationship between a scientist named Dr. Tenma (Nicolas Cage) and his son Toby, who is tragically killed — paving the way for Astro Boy (Freddie Highmore) to enter the scene.

"Astro Boy is created and given Toby's memories," said Bowers of the plot. "When Astro comes back, he really is [much] the same kid, so I don't think you feel as though there's a horrible loss even though there has been." Read more...

"Astro Boy" arrives in theaters this Friday, and the studio tag-team behind it have begun releasing a variety of images from the film and new clips to whet fans' appetites for the adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's classic character.

The latest batch of shots and footage not only contains some cool images from the film, but it also features two of my favorite scenes in the film: Astro Boy's battle with a host of robot gladiators, and his showdown with a nasty, mammoth-sized 'bot in which he discovers that he has machine guns... in his butt. Read more...

The Imagi Animation Studios-produced "Astro Boy" hasn't even hit theaters yet, but watchdogs are waiting with bated breath for the movie's upcoming release—because the success or failure of the movie will have an immediate impact on the franchise's future.

The Hollywood Reporter runs down a veritable laundry list of reasons why the success of "Astro Boy" is so important both for Imagi and other studios, particularly noting that a strong showing for the manga adaptation could lead to "Astro Boy II" launching into production shortly after the first movie's release on October 23, 2009. Read more...

New "Astro Boy" posters, pictures and teasers have been trickling in all year, but the latest look at the October film offers a fun slice of action and shows how its animated world will move. Osamu Tezuka's classic boy robot character floats around smoothly, and Donald Sutherland's voice acting is unmistakable in the clip, which features a small robot, a giant vehicle, a high-altitude urban chase and an apparent suicide near the end if I'm not mistaken. Check it out and let me know if you agree:

With a cast including Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, Samuel L. Jackson and Eugene Levy, among others, the lively character casting and vibrant movements should really pop. And though the lighting is pretty dark and foreboding throughout this scene, it does take place at night, so I hope the colors catch up with the daylight in the next glimpse that comes along. Read more...

The October premiere of "Astro Boy," the CGI-animated manga adaptation, is just around the corner—and Summit has released an eye-tingling new poster to remind you of just how close the film is to reality.

Cinematical has an exclusive look at what's being touted as the final poster for "Astro Boy," hitting theaters on October 23rd (head over there for a full look at the image).

The film features the voice talents of Freddie Highmore, Kristen Bell, Nicolas Cage and many more, with this latest poster highlighting all three of the aforementioned actors' computerized characters. Read more...

Footage (and new casting announcements) from "Astro Boy" wowed audiences during Comic-Con, and now Summit Entertainment has released six new images from the CGI adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's massively popular manga.

The film tells the story of a scientist, Dr. Tenma (voiced by Nicolas Cage) who replaces his lost son with a powerful robot (Freddie Highmore), who must then come to terms with his own identity as a child, a robot and, most importantly, a hero. Along with Cage, actors Donald Sutherland and Bill Nighy also voiced characters in the film, and today we have our first look at all of their characters in the new images -- as well as a few more shots from the much-anticipated film. Read more...

I'm here in Hall H, where the room is packed with shrieking "Twilight" fans and the geeks that are trying their best to not have their ears shattered. Some big news, however, has already been made by "Astro Boy," the new adaptation of a sci-fi cartoon classic.

Moments before unveiling the eye-popping new trailer for the flick, Summit (the studio releasing "New Moon" and "Astro Boy) announced that two new actors had signed on to join Nicolas Cage, Kristen Bell, Freddie Highmore and the rest. And they ain't lightweights.

Samuel L. Jackson and Charlize Theron will be loaning their familiar pipes to the fall flick. Although it was not revealed which characters they'll be playing - and they could not be heard in the trailer- both are expected to voice prominent characters.

The trailer for Astro-Boy featured some amazing CG-animated footage of the boy robot, an enormous "Peacekeeper" evil robot, and even depicted a moment when Astro Boy comically discovers that he has machine guns in his butt. The clip also took the relatively-rare Comic Con approach of revealing several unfinished shots, encouraging fans to use their imagination.

Stay tuned to MTV News for further developments on Samuel L. Jackson and Charlize Theron's roles in "Astro Boy," as well as other breaking Comic-Con news.