'Speed Racer' footage unspools as Wachowskis drive to bring F/X across the finish line

During its final-day presentation at ShoWest on Thursday, Warner Bros. introduced movie-theater owners to what may very well be the weirdest release of the summer: Larry and Andy Wachowski's big-screen version of the classic cartoon Speed Racer (opening May 9). Producer Joel Silver (who also worked with the brothers on the Matrix movies and V for Vendetta) and stars Emile Hirsch, Matthew Fox, and Christina Ricci took the stage to introduce four minutes and 10 seconds of footage from the kandy-kolored family film. (No, the Wachowskis didn't show up, duh.) What did it look like? Imagine a chaotic mash-up of The Matrix, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Cars, and you might be able to get the dizzying picture.

The dizziness continues behind the scenes, it turns out. Later in the evening, when EW.com caught up with Speed Racer himself, Emile Hirsch, the actor said that the Brothers are gunning their engines to get the film done. "Occasionally I'll call Larry or Andy and they'll give me the crazy update," Hirsch said. "They're scrambling to complete the visual effects. They have 2,000 visual-effects shots [in the film]...and they're getting, like, 100 shots a day at this point. They have to go through 100 shots and put them into the movie. So they're just scrambling, it's a mad dash to the finish line."