There’s plenty of interest in the Robocop remake which begins filming this September and is being helmed by Elite Squad director José Padilha.
Joel Kinnaman best known for his work as Detective Holder in AMC’s The Killing, landed the coveted role that was first inhabited by Peter Weller in Paul Verhoeven‘s 1987 sci-fi classic. Gary Oldman recently 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.”
Fans can expect a re-telling that takes full advantage of today’s digital effects and offers a new vision of a future Detroit where ‘cancer is the crime’. The Robocop suit will no doubt cross-cut practical and CGI effects similar to the way Iron Man is brought to life, but this won’t detract from Kinnaman’s performance, who’s appreciation and understanding of the character is set to make the updating all the more impressive.
Since nabbing the role, Kinnaman has been fielding a slew of interviews, keen on the actor spilling the beans – while he’s keeping tight-lipped for the most part, he’s offered some bits of info regarding the highly anticipated remake.
Speaking from London about his upcoming contemporary romantic comedy Lola Versus, he spoke about the Robocop reboot and Padilha’s plans to make the remake different from Verhoeven’s version while still throwing nods to the original – and how retelling a story can break new ground:
Is Kinnaman surprised by the level of interest?
A little bit, yeah. It’s like when you say one thing, it’s everywhere, and that’s pretty awesome and a little bit intimidating. It makes you realize you have to think before speaking. That’s a quality I’m continuously evolving. For some reason, it seems like I’m bumping my head into the wall a little bit too many times, but now I think I’m doing alright. It’s fantastic. I used to be like “Why are we doing a remake? What are remakes being done for?” But then, we do that all the time in the theater… It doesn’t have to be negative to creativity. It can be completely opposite. That’s how you can break new ground by rethinking something that’s already been done. José has a completely different take on this than Verhoeven had, and with all respect, everybody that’s involved in this movie loved the original and we have a lot of respect for it. We’re going to have a lot of throwbacks and there’s going to be a lot of fun stuff for the fans of the first movie. It’s a new story within the old one.
Is he a fan of the original?
I’ve seen it maybe 20 times before I got this part.
Was he nervous about signing on for a multi-picture deal?
No. I mean that sort of comes with the territory, and so far, everything that I’ve been promised and everything that I’ve heard about the project has really come to life. Everybody is trying to make something real, something with a core of substance, and of course, an exciting action movie with a lot of terrific stuff and fantastic visuals and everything, but at the core of it, it’s a movie with substance and something that is going to make people think.
How excited is the actor to work with the talented Gary Oldman?
That feels about as surreal as me being RoboCop. I couldn’t be happier. He’s pretty much the grand master of the game.
Speaking in March with MTV News, Kinnaman revealed that Padilha’s father’s career as a scientist had influenced him:
There’s a lot of neuroscience now raising the question, ‘Is all the intelligence in the human body in the brain?’ and they’re finding out that, no, it’s not like that. The body has intelligence itself, and we’re much more of an organic creature in that way. It’s not a control tower that does everything.
Kinnaman gave some details on the new Robocop suit:
It’s not going to be jaw action. They’re still working on the suit and how it’s going to look, but the visor is going to be see-through. You’re going to see his eyes.
So what kind of differences can we expect between the original and the re-imagined versions?:
RoboCop is going to be a lot more human. The first movie is one of my favorite movies. I love it. Of course, Verhoeven has that very special tone, and it’s not going to have that tone. It’s a re-imagination of it. There’s a lot of stuff from the original. There are some details and throwbacks, but this version is a much better acting piece, for Alex Murphy and especially when he is RoboCop. It’s much more challenging.
Kinnaman has said that he thinks the remake will probably go for a R-Rating. As for the violent scene that leads to the death of Alex Murphy and the genesis of RoboCop, Kinnaman teased:
Yeah. It’s going to be different. But it’s very good. I was looking to do a big movie and to show that I can carry a big movie, and I couldn’t be happier that this is going to be one of those big movies, a blockbuster, but that is also a real movie. A movie-movie.
The Robocop reboot will be released August 9th, 2013.
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