When Square Enix unleashes the video game "Disney's Kingdom Hearts II" on March 30 in the U.S., it will feature an array of Hollywood talent. The game will feature the voices of Zach Braff, James Woods, Haley Joel Osment, Christopher Lee, David Gallagher, Ming Na and Mena Suvari.
The game franchise blends well-known characters from classic Walt Disney Co. films with original characters from the Japanese game maker. In this sequel, for example, Na will play a virtual Mulan, Woods brings Hades to life, and Braff again will star as Chicken Little.
The original "Kingdom Hearts" game, which shipped in 2002, has sold more than 5 million units worldwide. Osment will reprise his role as Sora, the lead character in the role-playing game, who journeys through Disney film worlds accompanied by Goofy and Donald Duck. He will be joined by Gallagher as Riku and Hayden Panettiere as Kairi. Lee, Brittany Snow and singer Jesse McCarmey also play featured characters.
Suvari will portray Aerith, a popular character from Square Enix's best-selling "Final Fantasy VII" game. Other big-screen talent joining her include Steve Burton and Rachael Leigh Cook.
In a first for the franchise, the new game will add characters from such live-action movies as "Tron" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" to the game world. A trailer at last year's E3 showed the likeness of Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow within the "Kingdom Hearts II" game world, for instance.
"Kingdom Hearts II" also features the worlds of "Hercules," "Beauty and the Beast," "The Lion King," "Aladdin" and "The Nightmare Before Christmas."
In addition to the original game, a Game Boy Advance spinoff called "Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories" sold 2.5 million copies worldwide to date. "Kingdom Hearts II" shipped Dec. 22 in Japan (minus the Hollywood voice talent) and has sold more than 1.1 million units. Square Enix expects the worldwide total of this game to sell 10 million units by the end of its run.