Posted by: Mycah

29 Jan 2009

(No Comments)

MTV News caught up with Johansson at the junket for He’s Just Not That Into You and asked her about the Astro Boy rumors.

“I had kind of sort of met on it and stuff, but I don’t know where that came from,” Johansson told MTV. “I had never been committed to it. I don’t know what happened to it.”

The film, based on the manga by Osamu Tezuka, tells the story of boy robot built to replace a scientist’s lost son. Even without Johansson, the project continues to boast some impressive voice talent, including Freddie Highmore as Astro Boy, Nicolas Cage as his creator, Dr. Tenma, as well as Nathan Lane, Bill Night, Eugene Levy and Kristen Bell.

With Johansson out and the studio’s financial woes made public, it remains to be seen if anyone will be replacing her in the role, much less someone of her star power, although her role, which was never specifically announced, may already have been filled by Bell (whose role is also, so far, unspecified).

While it’s not at all uncommon for Hollywood deals to fall through, the confirmation of this one does come at a time that leads to some speculation about the films’ future. Here’s hoping that Imagi will have Astro Boy on-track soon or, better yet, that they’ll confirm that it was never off-track in the first place.

Filed under: Role Rumors