Imagi Couldn’t Make Payroll So Halts ‘Astro Boy’ & Lays Off 80 Animators

“…realized Friday night that it couldn’t make its Los Angeles payroll, called everyone on Saturday and laid off almost 80 union animators out of the 120 staff in the LA office, and halted production on the upcoming CGI-animated feature film Astro Boy for Summit Entertainment. - Continue reading at DeadlineHollywoodDaily.com

The original news comes via MovieWeb.com:

Imagi U.S. President, Erin Corbett, explains that the company had some issues with funding, and was looking to receive bridge financing to cover a gap between the end of January and the beginning of February. When it looked like that “bridge financing” wasn’t going to materialize, the employees were put on “mandatory unpaid leave.”

“We want to do everything to get Astro Boy out the door,” says Corbett. The animation is apparently about 50 percent rendered and complete, and nearly all of the vocal performances have been recorded. With the money set to arrive in February, completing Astro Boy shouldn’t be a problem. In the meantime, Imagi is still raising money to get Gatchaman into production for a November 2010 release. “We’re trying to do a film every year to 18 months,” Corbett says. – Continue reading at MovieWeb.com

Does anyone want to nominate another anime robot to take Astro Boy’s place?

Here’s a synopsis of the film:

A thrilling tale of a true hero, Astro Boy is an all-new, feature film full of action, adventure, humor and heart. It will be brought to life on the big screen in breathtaking CGI animation on October 23rd, 2009.

Set in futuristic Metro City, Astro Boy is about a young robot with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist named Tenma (Nicolas Cage). Powered by positive “blue” energy, Astro Boy (Freddie Highmore) is endowed with super strength, x-ray vision, unbelievable speed and the ability to fly. – From MovieFone.com

Astro Boy was created by Osamu Tezuka in 1952, where he appeared in manga form.

Astro Boy Teaser Trailer

What do you think? Is it going to hold true to Osamu Tezuka’s vision?