Emmy-nominated actor Elizabeth Banks is expanding her voiceover career into the latest entertainment frontier, tackling the role of the adorable alien “Cheez” for Baobab Studios’ newest virtual reality animation project, ASTEROIDS! A Holiday Sneak Peek of the humorous, action-packed adventure launches today for Daydream, Samsung Gear and Oculus.
Banks’ recent voice performances include Wyldstyle in The LEGO Movie franchise and Pizzazz in Moonbeam City, on top of her on-screen appearances in the Hunger Games and Pitch Perfect movies.
“Elizabeth’s voice brings the heart-warming and blissfully innocent character of Cheez fully alive in ASTEROIDS! as viewers don a VR headset and become part of the completely engrossing animated story,” explains Maureen Fan, CEO and co-founder, Baobab Studios. “This story employs a secret, decodable and very fun alien language that she has fully and enthusiastically embraced in the voice of Cheez.”
The full version of ASTEROIDS! will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January as part of the event’s official selection. In the experience, viewers take on the role of a helper-bot alongside a pair of quirky aliens, Mac and Cheez. Joined by their other robot sidekick, Peas, you wait for a chance to prove your worth on a dangerous mission in deep outer space. The chance finally comes when the spaceship is endangered by teeth-gnashing space-bugs and careening asteroids. With the others up to their alien eyeballs in trouble, it’s your job to save the day!
ASTEROIDS! is Baobab’s second animated VR experience, a follow up to its acclaimed debut INVASION!, an award winner at Cannes and Tribeca. A feature film version of INVASION! is slated to be developed by Roth/Kirschenbaum (Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent).
