John Turturro, Eddie Izzard Hitch a Ride with Cars 2

2/18/2011 Posted by Admin

Eddie Izzard
John Turturro, Eddie Izzard Hitch a Ride with Cars 2

Movie News

By our guest blogger, Nick Hanover


The Hollywood Reporter broke the news this week that John Turturro and Eddie Izzard would be joining the cast of Pixar's Cars 2. The announcement was made at this week's Toy Fair, with the film's release date set to be June 24th of this year.

Turturro, perhaps best known for his collaborations with the Coen Brothers on such films as O Brother, Where Art Thou?, will be voicing Francesco Bernoulli. Francesco is an Italian race car that will be a rival to the prior film's protagonist Lightning McQueen. Pixar chief John Lasseter said at Toy Fair that Turturro was the company's number one pick for the role and stated that Francesco will be a flamboyant, cocky character that he hopes audiences will love.

Izzard by contrast will be voicing Miles Axlerod, an ex-oil baron who got rid of his fortune and converted himself to an electric vehicle as part of his pursuit of a renewable energy source. While Izzard is likely most known for his stand-up, he's already had key roles in such films as Mystery Men, Ocean's Twelve and Thirteen and the Tom Cruise WWII film Valkyrie. Izzard is no stranger to children's productions, though, as he voiced the swashbuckling mouse Reepicheep in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian though he did not reprise the role for its sequel, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Based on the information about the characters, it would seem Pixar will be addressing such topics as global warming and renewable energy in the Cars sequel. Though it is a kids' movie, many were impressed by the use of similar topics in the studio's Wall-E and their presence here could potentially land Pixar another Best Picture nomination at the Oscars as is the case this year with their Toy Story 3. But we'll just have to wait until June to find out.

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