A few weeks ago, MGM announced that the planned reboot of ‘Robocop’ was still on. At that time, Jose Padilha was confirmed as still on board to direct and Nick Schenk (‘Gran Torino’) was brought on to work on a script based on Padilha’s ideas for the film.
Despite not having a final script, it appears as if MGM may be ready to cast the lead in the film. Word from Deadline is that MGM has placed an offer to actor Joel Kinnaman to play the role of Robocop (played in the original film by Peter Weller). Kinnaman is best known for his role in AMC’s ‘The Killing’ and most recently starred alongside Denzel Washington in Universal Pictures’ ‘Safe House’.
I haven’t seen Joel’s acting chops so I can’t speak on that, but he does have the look of a cop and a square enough jaw to wear the metal helmet of Robocop. There’s no word yet on how close the new ‘Robocop’ will steer to the classic 1987 original film, but I expect that it’ll be updated with a more versatile Robocop that can actually move… and hopefully a version of ED-209 that can actually walk down a flight of stairs.
Update 3/3/12: Deadline reported today that Kinnaman has indeed been confirmed for the lead role in the ‘Robocop’ remake, so he’d better start working on his deadpan lines… “Dead or alive, you are coming with me.”
