So hey, who here saw the live action Speed Racer movie this weekend? Apparently, not too many of you, because the film got pretty royally trounced at the box office. Despite generally positive buzz from fans, critics panned the film (It's got a 36% ranking on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing). While some movies are pretty critic-proof, Speed Racer's poor reviews undoubtedly put more than a few dents in its body, especially compared to the overwhemling praise last week's Iron Man received.  Iron Man continued to dominate, raking in another 50 million USD in tickets on top of last week's 100-million dollar moneypile. Speed Racer did less than half that, clocking in at about 20 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

So why did the movie flop? Besides the generally poor reviews, one can devise several theories. Does the property fail to be nostalgic enough... or was it perhaps too old for today's moviegoing generation to appreciate? Did the family-friendly PG rating scare off the all-important teens-and-young-adults crowd? Or did the 2 hour running time make parents with hyperactive youngsters think twice before taking them to see it?

No matter what your theory, this is a rather inauspicious beginning for the trend of big-budget anime-based Western films. Sure, Speed Racer isn't quite as huge a property as Dragonball, but this certainly isn't an encouraging sign for 2009's major upcoming anime adaptation.

And speaking of Dragonball, ANN reports that the latest Shonen Jump issue has the first official pictures of Justin Chatwin as Goku. The film is confirmed for Japanese release in March and North American release on April 3rd. Mark those calendars!