Start your engines! The premiere of the live-action Speed Racer film is just around the corner, coming up fast on May 8, 2008.

Filming began last June with Larry and Andy Wachowski at the helm. Though the movie is one of the most highly anticipated projects of next year, for the most part it’s been kept under wraps. Until now.

Emile Hirsch stars as the heroic Speed with Christina Ricci as his faithful girlfriend Trixie. John Goodman plays Speed’s bombastic racecar building father Pops and Susan Sarandon is by his side as Speed’s Mom. Team mechanic Sparky (Kick Gurry), Speed’s younger brother Spritle (Paulie Little) and monkey Chim-Chim are also along for the ride. The pivotal role of Speed’s rival, Racer X, is brought to life by Lost’s Matthew Fox. (Check out Fox in action in the video below)

USA Today has been given the first images of the almost entirely computer-generated film and they are visually stunning. The characters look like they stepped right out of the cartoon series (see the video below to refresh your memory). Click here to see more pictures from the film. Hopefully the movie’s script will be able to live up to the quality of the visuals. We’ll keep you posted as more information becomes available. Stay tuned!

Updated: The trailer’s now available and is posted below.