Larry and Andy Wachowski have hired “Lost” star Matthew Fox to play Racer X in the live-action Speed Racer, an update of the 1960s cartoon for Warner Bros. Pictures and producer Joel Silver.
In addition, Aussie actor Kick Gurry is in negotiations to play Sparky, Speed’s hippie mechanic.
Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon and John Goodman already are on board the film, which will shoot in the summer in Berlin.
Speed Racer centers on a young race car driver, Speed (Hirsch), and his quest for glory in his thundering, gadget-laden Mach 5. Fox will play Speed’s mysterious racing rival, an enigmatic soldier of fortune.
The Wachowskis are writing and directing, with the studio eyeing a May 9, 2008 bow.
