"Quantum Quest," a new 3-D computer animated Large Format action adventure film that interweaves animated sequences with space imagery captured from seven ongoing NASA and NASA/ESA space missions, has assembled a voice cast to bring its action adventure storyline to life.
The full voice cast includes Chris Pine (Captain Kirk in J.J. Abrams' upcoming "Star Trek XI" feature film), Samuel L. Jackson ("The Spirit," "Pulp Fiction," "Star Wars"), Hayden Christensen ("Jumper," "Star Wars"), Amanda Peet ("X-Files Movie 2," "The Whole Nine Yards"), Robert Picardo ("Stargate Atlantis"), Jason Alexander ("Seinfeld"), Tom Kenny (voice of "Sponge Bob Squarepants," "Transformers"), Sandra Oh ("Sideways," "Grey's Anatomy"), Brent Spiner ("Independence Day," "Star Trek: Next Generation"), James Earl Jones ("Star Wars"), William Shatner ("Boston Legal," "Star Trek"), Mark Hamill ("Star Wars"), Neil Armstrong, Doug Jones ("Pan's Labyrinth," "Abe Sabien - Hell Boy"), Abigail Breslin ("Little Miss Sunshine," "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl"), Spencer Breslin ("The Happening"), Gary Graham ("Alien Nation," "Enterprise") and Janina Gavankar ("The L Word").
The movie features the voices of two Captain Kirks (veteran William Shatner and Chris Pine, star of JJ Abrams' upcoming "Star Trek" movie) and two Darth Vaders (James Earl Jones and Hayden Christensen) -- a first for Hollywood.
"Quantum Quest" will premiere in Large Format and conventional theaters late 2009. The film is presented by Digimax and sponsored in part by NASA's JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory). It is produced by Digimax and Jupiter 9 Productions. Shawn Clement ("Open Season," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") is the composer.
"...'Quantum Quest' is a sci-fi action film set in a scientifically accurate rendering of our solar system in 3-D stereoscopic. Visually, the film blends computer animation with the fantastic images captured during recent NASA space explorations including the international Cassini Huygens mission. The audience is taken on a simulated solar safari, exploring the outer planets and moons of our solar system such as Titan, a moon of Saturn that has rainfall, rivers, and giant lakes of natural gas.
Directed by Dan St. Pierre and Dr. Harry Kloor, and written and conceived by Dr. Kloor, 'Quantum Quest' tells the story of an epic battle between the forces of good and evil. The central character is Dave (Chris Pine), a photon who lives in the Sun, who with his people, is drawn into a galactic battle between THE CORE (William Shatner, the embodiment of the Sun, representing life and knowledge) and THE VOID (Mark Hamill, the embodiment of Nothingness, who wishes for total annihilation of the universe)..."
WARNING: SPOILERS
The story begins with the Cassini Saturn space craft releasing the Huygens Titan probe. We then transition to earth, where a 12-year-old girl, Jeana, places a sun filter over a telescope to view sun spots. She asks her mentor, an African American Professor "Why is the Sun so bright?" This leads the professor to launch into a scientific explanation about fusion. The little girl laughs, having played this trick on her mentor many times, she says "No I meant bright, bright like happy. In most drawings the sun has a big smile. Is he good, like the man in the moon." Knowing this means she wants a story, the mentor begins to spin a tale, but as a mentor, this one, while entertaining, is also educational.
As he speaks, we transition to the Sun, and watching a Sun Spot spin into view, we dive into and pass through the chromosphere, and head toward the center. The mentor lays down the basis of our story as we travel through the sun. He explains that the "man in the sun is called the Core" and spins a story how he is good and that his children "photons" are sent out to chase away the darkness, and bring life, warmth, and knowledge to Earth. He adds that the only being who does not like the Core is a creature called the "Void" who is an ancient, malevolent, being who existed before the Big Bang, and who sits at the edge of the solar system, scheming to stop the Core.
We transition through a plasma wall, into "The Hall of Destiny" where we are introduced to the main character in our story - David, a young Photon who should have begun his travel to the surface a million years ago. The Core, tries to get him moving on his journey, but David is fearful.
We cut to the Kuiper Belt where a large space battle rages between two fleets - one comprised of protons, and the opposing fleet of anti-protons. A character we call "The Ranger, who is a neutrino scout, makes it through the battle lines and heads to the sun.
Back in the Sun, David is kicking Solid Light sculptures into a plasma fountain. The Ranger crashes through the wall into David, followed by some imaginary creatures called Gell-Mann ghosts. The Ranger is trying to get to Saturn (other side of the Sun), to deliverer a message to the Cassini Space Core Commander. The Gell-Mann ghosts (nasty creatures) surround them. The only way to escape is to give the message scroll to David, and ask him to deliver it while the Ranger holds the ghosts at bay. David sails through the sun and encounters a "surfer dude" Solar Proton, Jammer, who surfs the solar winds.
David's journey takes him through the solar system, to an exploration of the moons of Saturn. Eventually he finds Milton, an older photon character who is mining for free quarks. Milton teaches David introductory material about electrons, protons, quarks, etc. The two evade the evil/comical forces of the Void, until they get captured by the "Dark Side of the Moon".
In the process of escaping we learn about the fundamental modes of motion and introduce basic quantum concepts. The message scroll is partially damaged, so David does not know who the space commander is, but he knows that he needs to get to the Cassini Space craft, because something bad will happen.
He gets inside the Cassini craft and encounters the ship's computer, GAL 2000, who, in the course of determining the danger, teaches David about spectra, the mission of the space craft, different radiation bands used for remote sensing, etc. In the end, they save the antenna of the ship from a beam of anti-matter sent by the Void. They do this with the help of Jammer. David discovers that he is the Space Core Commander (all this time, searching for himself). He leads the transmission back to Earth, and through a system of antennas, is processed, and as Jeana accesses the Web page of JPL, he flies through the screen and enters Jeana's eye.
Producers of the film are Dr. Kloor, President of Jupiter 9 Productions, Helen Pao-Yun Huang, Chairperson of Digimax, Jeff Tzong-Jer Yang, Vice President of Digimax, and Rayna Napali of Jupiter 9 Productions. Tom Teng from Digimax, Teddy Zee, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein and Jon Vein are executive producers.
The film will be released worldwide in large format and subsequently in conventional 3D theaters at the end of 2009...
