Kristen Bell, Matt Lucas Join Astro Boy To Save Metro City

Kristen Bell and Matt Lucas have joined the cast of Imagi Studios' CG-animated motion picture ASTRO BOY.

Previously announced for the all-star cast were Academy Award-winning actor Nicolas Cage, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane, Bill Nighy and Eugene Levy with Freddie Highmore in the title role.

Kristen Bell, star of the hit television series HEROES, GOSSIP GIRL and VERONICA MARS, also recently headed the casts of such feature films as FANBOYS and FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL as well as starring with Meg Ryan in the upcoming comedy SERIOUS MOONLIGHT.

Actor-writer Matt Lucas, winner of multiple BAFTA Awards for the popular BBC comedy series LITTLE BRITAIN, has appeared widely on the stage as well as in feature films and television, most recently starring in HBO's LITTLE BRITAIN USA series.

David Bowers (FLUSHED AWAY) is directing ASTRO BOY from a screenplay written by Timothy Harris (TRADING PLACES, KINDERGARTEN COP), with Maryann Garger producing.

The iconic character Astro Boy has found global popularity since his creation in the early 1950s by Japan's Osamu Tezuka, known as the "god of manga" and "father of anime", and has been the hero of three acclaimed animated television series aired around the world.

Set in the future, Imagi Studio's ASTRO BOY is a classic superhero origin story about a young robot with incredible powers and his adventure-filled journey in search of his identity and destiny, taking him into a netherworld of robot gladiators before he returns to save Metro City.

ASTRO BOY, slated for domestic release on October 23, 2009, is being distributed worldwide by Summit Ent. except for Imagi's reserved territories of Japan, Hong Kong and China.