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William Shatner, Samuel L. Jackson Partner With NASA

An A-list voice cast will contribute to Quantum Quest, the independently financed 3-D animated film that is being made in conjunction with NASA. William Shatner, James Earl Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, Sandra Oh, Hayden Christensen, Amanda Peet, Chris Pine, Jason Alexander, Mark Hamill, and Abigail Breslin are all a part of the film's extensive voice cast. The $10 million picture is being financed by Digimax, a Taiwanese company.

Astronaut Neil Armstrong will also have a voice role, which marks his film debut. The film will first be shown in IMAX and then released in regular theaters later this year. The story revolves around the character of Dave, voiced by Pine, a photon residing in the sun. He ends up in the middle of an intergalactic battle between the Core, voiced by Shatner, and the Void, voiced by Hamill. Both Shatner and Hamill have impressive sci-fi film backgrounds.

The film will be a visual stunner, set to include animated Digimax sequences mixed with actual space imagery captured during seven ongoing space missions. The film could not be released until the Cassini/Huygens space mission, which captured and sent the images, completed its run. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory came up with the idea for the film. Producers are currently seeking a domestic distributor for conventional theaters.

—The ARTISTdirect Staff
01.13.09