Speed Racer 2 Revival Hopes Ignite: Original Star Shares Exciting Update on Scrapped Script!

Almost two decades have passed since Speed Racer debuted to disappointing box office numbers, and its main actor believes he understands the reason behind its lack of success.

The 2008 movie was a live-action rendition of the popular Tatsunoko Production anime series, featuring Call of the Wild star Emile Hirsch as the exceptionally talented young driver. This project was the Wachowskis’ first directorial effort following the completion of the Matrix trilogy, but it didn’t achieve the same acclaim or success.

In a recent discussion with ScreenRant‘s Grant Hermanns, coinciding with the release of a 4K remastered version of the film, Hirsch shared his thoughts on why Speed Racer initially flopped at the box office. He started by noting the transformation in the perception of the film over the years, from its initial harsh reception to its current status. He mentioned, “it’s been pretty incredible seeing the evolution of the film,” and recalled how it was initially “really kind of tarred and feathered” upon its release. Hirsch attributed the film’s failure to the cinematic tastes of the time, which favored different types of films and a more realistic approach in superhero movies, causing Speed Racer to stand out unfavorably:

Emile Hirsch: I feel like audiences have just changed in the last 18 years, and a lot of the stylistic visual aesthetic things that alienated people then now draws them in a different way that they maybe never even have seen before. I think there’s that, and then there’s also this sincerity that the movie has, and this sense of heart. That’s just something that I feel like has become a little rarer in a lot of superhero movies where there’s this deep, deep sincerity and wholesomeness. I think that Speed Racer has that in spades.

Hirsch also mentioned a previous anniversary screening of the film at the New Beverly theater, where he observed the audience’s newfound appreciation for the film, now considering it a “cult classic.” He noted that during the movie’s climactic scene, the emotional response from the audience was palpable, “you could hear everybody crying in the theater,” a stark contrast to its original reception when viewers “weren’t ready for that kind of experience“:

Emile Hirsch: But seeing everyone in the theater now watch it, and seeing them get that emotional, it was really beautiful. And that was when I was like, “Oh wow, this really is a film that people are going to love forever.” Because for a film to have that kind of cathartic effect on an audience, especially a PG movie called Speed Racer, there’s something really special there that it’s not about the effects, it’s the heart and the art behind it.

Since its release, Hirsch has frequently discussed the initial underperformance of Speed Racer and its subsequent rise to cult status, previously expressing his surprise at its failure and wondering why “nobody gets” what they were trying to do. He compared it to the original anime’s performance, which only lasted three seasons, “not very much for a huge children’s show.”

According to Hirsch, the film’s initial failure can be attributed to a shift in audience preferences towards more realistic blockbusters, as evidenced by the success of films like Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight and Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, which were released around the same time and emphasized a more grounded approach. Speed Racer faced stiff competition from these films at the box office, along with other major releases like Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

Moreover, Speed Racer wasn’t alone in its box office struggle during this period. The superhero genre, in particular, saw several films trying and failing to replicate The Dark Knight‘s success, including the 2015 Fantastic Four reboot and various early entries in the DC Extended Universe, along with the 2014 RoboCop reboot.

Similarly, Edgar Wright’s Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which shared a similar hyperstylized aesthetic with Speed Racer, despite good reviews and a strong cast, also failed to perform well at the box office, earning just under $48 million against a budget reported to be around $80 million.

While it may not have been appreciated at the time, Speed Racer‘s initial failure is not the only story worth telling about the film. As Hirsch pointed out, the earnest tone and unique characters of the movie have continued to resonate with audiences, helping it achieve a cult classic status and allowing it to be remembered more fondly than some of its contemporaries.