Loyola Greyhound

Issue date: 11/6/07 Section: Arts & Society

Media Credit: MCT campus Next year, the first film adaptation of the hit 1960s anime series, "Speed Racer" will hit theaters. The story centers around a family who tries to outrace an evil corporation in a competition.

Hollywood always has money in mind when concocting the next films on their roster.

It is now typical to have remakes and sequels consume a majority of the box office dollar. As of the summer of 2007, it also was littered with threequels, including "Spiderman 3" and the third "Pirates of the Caribbean." And 2008 will not disappoint with "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince," as well as the anticipated sequel to Batman Begins (sans the stale Katie Holmes), with "The Dark Knight."

However, when looking at the upcoming films for next year, an interesting trend starts to show itself. Not only are the inevitable sequels on the list, but quite a few blasts from the past are present as well. These include the fourth "Indiana Jones" film (the first to be made since 1989), as well as a new "Star Trek," a fresh take on "The Hulk" series and the first feature film to be made from the 1960s anime, "Speed Racer."

The upcoming "Speed Racer" stars "Into the Wild" actor Emilie Hirsch as Speed and Christina Ricci as his trusty girlfriend, Trixie. This feature film based off of the popular anime is the return of "The Matrix" helmers, Andy and Larry Wachowski, to the directors' chairs.

It will no doubt contain mind-bending special effects combined with a plot that mixes both action sequences and slow tempo scenes of character development that the brothers Wachowski seem to stick to like glue. The film will follow Speed, Trixie and his racing family as they try to outrace the evil Royalton Corporation, whose team the loyal Speed would not join because he would not leave his family behind despite the offer of a profitable contract.

Aside from Speed Racer, 2008 sees the triumphant return of Indiana Jones with the long-winded title, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."

This is perhaps the longest awaited revamp of the year. "Crystal Skull" reteams Harrison Ford as the sarcastic and resourceful archeologist with the series director and American legend Steven Spielberg behind the lens.

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