Robocop

Gary Oldman Joins ROBOCOP Remake

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: May 23rd, 2012 at 4:10 pm

Director Jose Padilha got off to a nice start with setting The Killing star Joel Kinnaman as the lead in the Robocop reboot, and now he’s landed a very fine actor to star alongside Kinnaman.  Heat Vision reports that Gary Oldman has signed on to star as Norton, the scientist who creates Robocop and “finds himself torn between the ideals of the machine trying to rediscover its humanity and the callous needs of a corporation.”  Oldman’s a terrific actor and I’m eager to see how big of a role this Norton character will be in Padilha’s iteration of the story.

No production start-date has yet been set, but with an August 9th, 2013 release date looming the film is apparently eying a shoot in Toronto.  Kinnaman recently talked about the film and said that he can’t imagine how it could be PG-13, so hopefully we’re in for an R-rated Robocop.  That would definitely be a rarity in a sea of PG-13 actioners, but its possible that Ridley Scott’s R-rated Prometheus could alter studio thinking if it does really well.

Recap of the ROBOCOP Hero Complex Screening With Peter Weller

by Tommy Cook    Posted: May 20th, 2012 at 4:34 pm

This weekend Hero Complex in association with The Los Angeles Times hosted the third annual Hero Complex Film Festival.  Highlights to which included a screening of Shaun of the Dead with Edgar Wright, Wall-E with director Andrew Stanton and A Clockwork Orange with star Malcolm McDowell.

I was on hand Saturday for the fest at a midday screening of Paul Verhoeven’s seminal satirical ultraviolent masterpiece RoboCop. Star Peter Weller appeared after the screening for a lengthy and animated Q&A wherein he discussed prepping for RoboCop, learning to appreciate the satirical bend of the film and his thoughts on a hypothetical remake, among many other topics of conversation.  For highlights from the Q&A, hit the jump.

2012 Hero Complex Film Festival to Include Screenings of ROBOCOP, SERENITY, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, SHAUN OF THE DEAD and More with Special Guests

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: April 25th, 2012 at 2:21 pm

Last year’s Los Angeles Times Hero Complex Film Festival included screenings of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan & J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, a Jon Favreau-hosted double bill of Iron Man and Iron Man 2, and Warren Beatty opened the festival with his 1990 film Dick Tracy.  The event sounded like a lot of fun and proved more than insightful with some truly swell panels.  The line-up for this year’s iteration of the festival has been announced, and as expected it’s a fun mix of old and new films with special guests galore.  Hit the jump for more info.

Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman Talk THE KILLING Season 2, WORLD WAR Z, and the ROBOCOP Reboot

by Christina Radish    Posted: March 30th, 2012 at 2:38 pm

The AMC drama series The Killing, returning for its second season on April 1^st, ties together three distinct stories around a single murder – the detectives assigned to the case, the victim’s grieving family, and the suspects. While Season 1 was all about questions and red herrings, Season 2 promises to start uncovering the answers while delving into and exploring the notion that everyone has past secrets that are now coming back to haunt them. And, the resolution of who killed Rosie Larson (Katie Findlay) will be answered at the conclusion of this season.

At a press day for the show, co-stars Mireille Enos (who plays homicide detective Sarah Linden) and Joel Kinnaman (who plays Linden’s partner, Stephen Holder) talked about their surprise over the fan reaction for the Season 1 finale, how the marketing of the show mismanaged expectations for viewers, that the stakes will get more and more intense in Season 2, how neither of them knows the identity of the killer yet (they’ve shot 11 of 13 episodes so far this season), and how all of the relationship dynamics will play out. Enos also talked about how much fun she had playing Brad Pitt’s wife in World War Z and working with the incredible ensemble cast in Gangster Squad, while Kinnaman talked about what he’s looking forward to with taking on the lead role in the RoboCop reboot, which starts shooting in August. Check out what they had to say after the jump:

Joel Kinnaman Talks ROBOCOP Reboot: “I Can’t Imagine How ROBOCOP Could Be PG-13″

by Christina Radish    Posted: March 26th, 2012 at 8:25 pm

Earlier this afternoon, Collider was invited to participate in roundtable interviews for Season 2 of the AMC drama series The Killing, which premieres on April 1^st. While Season 1 was all about questions and red herrings, Season 2 promises to start uncovering the answers while delving into and exploring the notion that everyone has past secrets that are now coming back to haunt them. And, the resolution of who killed Rosie Larson (Katie Findlay) will be answered at the conclusion of this season.

We will run what the actors had to say about the show’s return later in the week, but we did want to share what actor Joel Kinnaman had to say about his upcoming role in the RoboCop reboot, working with director José Padilha, his love of the original film and Paul Verhoeven’s work (including Starship Troopers), how they start shooting in August, and how adamant he is about the importance of an R rating for the film. Check out what he had to say after the jump.

Joel Kinnaman Spills Details on ROBOCOP Reboot

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: March 26th, 2012 at 5:08 pm

If you wanted your half-human, half-robot super-cop to be more grounded in reality, well you’re in luck! Star Joel Kinnaman (The Killing) has teased some information about the RoboCop reboot directed by Jose Padilha (Elite Squad). Fans of the 1987 original by Paul Verhoeven will remember that Peter Weller starred as the titular hero, a cop revived with the use of state-of-the-art robotics and weaponry after a brutal murder at the hands of some ruthless criminals. The only thing you could see of Weller himself was a narrow band across his lower jaw. That won’t be the case in the reboot, says Kinnaman; we’ll even get to see RoboCop’s eyes! I wonder if this will be more or less reactive than the backlash to Michael Bay’s approach to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Hit the jump to see what Kinnaman had to say.

New Release Dates for ROBOCOP and CLOUDY 2: REVENGE OF THE LEFTOVERS

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: March 9th, 2012 at 5:13 pm

We’ve got some new release dates to share with you today. Here they are at a glance:

• Robocop – Directed by Jose Padilha and starring Joel Kinnaman, the reboot of the 1987 sci-fi classic will release August 9th, 2013.
• Cloudy 2: Revenge of the Leftovers – The sequel to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is due out December 20th, 2013.

Hit the jump for more on each project.

Joel Kinnaman Confirmed to Star in ROBOCOP Remake

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: March 3rd, 2012 at 8:50 am

After a lengthy search for the lead, last week we learned that MGM had offered The Killing star Joel Kinnaman the titular role in its remake of the 1987 sci-fi film RoboCop. Now Deadline reports that the deal has closed, as director José Padilha has finally landed his RoboCop in Kinnaman. Following his impressive turn on the AMC series, Kinnaman has been fielding a number of high profile offers as of late. He was set to star as Lancelot in Warner Bros.’s Arthur & Lancelot, but the studio recently put that project on hold in order to sort out some budget issues. Game of Thrones star Kit Harington, who was set to play Arthur, has already signed on for a replacement project in the meantime, and now it appears that Kinnaman is doing the same. I’m not sure if either actor will be available when/if Warner Bros. resumes production on Arthur & Lancelot, but given that both have obligations to film the next seasons of their respective TV series, I’m not confident that they’ll be able to return.

Gran Torino scribe Nick Schenk was recently set to pen the script for Padilha’s updated RoboCop, and with a lead actor firmly in place it’s safe to assume that they should be headed into production fairly soon.  I’m a fan of Kinnaman’s work on The Killing, and I’m eager to see how he’ll handle the lead of such a popular property.

THE KILLING Star Joel Kinnaman Offered Lead in ROBOCOP

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 24th, 2012 at 11:39 am

After months of searching, it looks like director José Padilha has finally found his desired lead for the remake of Robocop. Deadline reports that The Killing star Joel Kinnaman has apparently been offered the lead in the re-do of the 1987 sci-fi film. The Swedish actor has become a bit of a hot commodity following his impressive turn in the polarizing AMC drama series. He landed the role of Lancelot in Warner Bros.’s Arthur & Lancelot, but the studio recently put that project on hold to address budget concerns. Should Kinnaman sign on to Robocop, one imagines he might have to drop out of the WB fantasy pic (the film has presumably already lost its Arthur, Kit Harington). Hit the jump for more on the Robocop remake.

Nick Schenk to Write ROBOCOP Remake; MORTAL KOMBAT Writer Oren Uziel Sells Action-Comedy

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: January 31st, 2012 at 7:43 pm

Director José Padilha said that when he signed on to remake RoboCop, he didn’t read any drafts left over from the Darren Aronofsky era because he “wanted to focus on my own thing and do my take.”  To create that vision, Padilha has turned to Gran Torino writer Nick Schenk.  Heat Vision makes no mention of Josh Zetumer’s reported involvement with the script, but MGM was initially looking at a February or March start date, so I don’t imagine Schenk will have to start over from page one.  Yet despite the hubbub over Michael Fassbender‘s candidacy to play the cyborg police officer, no cast is locked in.  So Schenk should have some time to craft a solid shooting script in time for a production later in the year.

Hit the jump for details on the pitch Oren Uziel (Mortal Kombat: Rebirth) sold to Neal Moritz (Fast Five).

Michael Fassbender Talks A DANGEROUS METHOD, ROBOCOP, and AT SWIM-TWO BIRDS

by Christina Radish    Posted: November 25th, 2011 at 8:47 am

Drawn from true-life events, A Dangerous Method – directed by David Cronenberg from a screenplay by Christopher Hampton – looks into the relationships between psychiatrist Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender), his mentor Sigmund Freud (Viggo Mortensen) and Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley), the troubled young woman who comes between them. When the unbalanced yet beautiful Sabina is sent to Burgholzli hospital, Dr. Jung tries Freud’s experimental treatment known as “the talking cure,” in order to help her hysteria. Although they enter into a sexual trust, violating the doctor/patient relationship, Sabina’s treatment is ultimately successful, and she, herself, goes on to pursue a career as a psychiatrist.

During a press conference to promote the film, actor Michael Fassbender talked about researching Dr. Carl Jung, whether he agrees with Jung’s theory that there is no real coincidence but only synchronicity, how Jung might have diagnosed and treated his sex addict character in Shame, and what it was like to work with Viggo Mortensen. He also talked about the possibility of signing on for Robocop and wearing the metal suit, and his desire to work with Brendan Gleeson for a film version of At Swim-Two Birds. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

Michael Fassbender Talks About Possibly Playing ROBOCOP

by Christina Radish    Posted: November 12th, 2011 at 11:11 am

Quickly becoming one of the most in-demand actors in Hollywood, Michael Fassbender has two films coming out before the end of this year. In Shame (opening in theaters on December 2^nd) he plays Brandon, a New Yorker who shuns intimacy with women while feeding his desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. In A Dangerous Method (opening in theaters on November 23^rd) he plays Dr. Carl Jung, a driven psychiatrist who decides to treat a very complicated patient with his mentor Sigmund Freud’s experimental “talking cure.”

While we will run what Michael Fassbender had to say about those films, closer to their release dates, we did want to share what he had to say about the fact that director José Padilha (Elite Squad) is eyeing him for the RoboCop remake, scheduled for release in 2013. Although he hasn’t committed to anything, he did say that he will take a look at the script and sit down with the director to talk about it, that he’s open to anything that inspires a reaction, and that it could be fun to have a helmet that he could hide behind for most of the film. Check out what he had to say after the jump:

José Padilha Talks ROBOCOP – Avoiding Aronofsky’s Script, His Take on the Material, Quieting the Rumor Mill, and More

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: September 26th, 2011 at 8:45 am

Director José Padilha will be bringing RoboCop back to the big screen and while that may give some fans pause, his Elite Squad movies have been met with acclaim and I’m willing to give him a chance.  He recently spoke about what he has planned for the reboot.  First off, he never read any of Darren Aronofsky’s scripts from his planned remake back in 2009.  Padilha says he avoided Aronofsky’s draft because “I wanted to focus on my own thing and do my take, even though Aronofsky is a genius.”

So what is Padilha’s take on the material?  Hit the jump to find out as well as Padilha’s response to recent casting rumors.

Writer/Director José Padilha Likes Michael Fassbender for ROBOCOP

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: September 23rd, 2011 at 6:12 pm

Brazilian writer/director José Padilha (Elite Squad) signed on to direct the RoboCop remake last March.  At the time, Padilha said there is no deadline for the script he’s co-writing with Joshua Zetumer: “When the screenplay turns out good enough, then we will start shooting.“  Padilha and Zetumer turned in a new draft this week—as it gets closer to “good enough,” it’s time to start thinking about casting.  Padilha floated one name for the cop-turned-cyborg in a recent interview with Globo (translated by our partners at Omelete):

“I can’t say anything yet.  It’s too early.  But there are some actors I am considering.  I like [Michael] Fassbender a lot.  I’m going to meet him—it’s a possibility.  There are great actors who could play RoboCop.”

I’d love to see Fassbender in the role.  With X-Men: First Class this summer and Prometheus next June, Fassbender has shown a penchant for the sci-fi blockbuster.  (In between indie dramas about sex addicts and sadomasochistic psychoanalysts, that is.)  RoboCop is probably one of the most interesting roles out there right now that happens to come with a big paycheck.  May that be enough for Mr. Fassbender.

Padihla plans on a February or March for the Detroit-set movie.  Hit the jump for the synopsis and trailer for the 1987 version.

Jose Padilha Says He’s Closed His Deal to Direct ROBOCOP Remake [UPDATED With Remarks from Padilha]

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: March 18th, 2011 at 2:31 pm

Earlier this month, it was reported that director Jose Padilha (Elite Squad) was in talks to helm MGM’s Robocop remake. Well, now it looks everything came through as Padilha told G1, “It’s closed,” regarding his deal to direct. Last week, Josh Zetumer came aboard to pen the script for the film. While Zetumer currently has no produced screenplays in the can, his spy-thriller script Infiltrator ended up on the “Black List” and is now in development at Warner Bros. with Leonardo DiCaprio tapped to star. In addition, the scribe penned a draft of the ever-changing fourth installment of The Bourne Identity franchise.

The Robocop remake has a bit of a troubled past, as Darren Aronofsky came on board to direct in 2008, but then MGM fell into bankruptcy and Aronofsky left the project. With Zetumer recently being drafted to pen the script, production on this flick is still probably a ways off.

[Update: An interview with Padilha has surfaced online and he talks a bit about his involvement with the film and how far along it is. Hit the jump to see what he said.]

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