The upcoming remake of Robocop is apparently moving full speed ahead. Joel Kinnaman, from the AMC show The Killing, and who also recently had a role in Safe House, will be playing the title role.
Brazilian director Jose Padilha, who made the Elite Squad movies, will helm the new reboot.
Meanwhile, Deadline confirms that the the latest iteration of Robocop will be distributed by Sony in partnership with MGM, who owns the Robocop franchise.
So although there isn’t a start date or any other detailed information, it does indeed look like this remake will be up and shooting very soon.
Looking back the original Robocop, Nancy Allen, who starred in the original and who was also in Dressed to Kill and Blow Out, just gave an interview to Shock Cinema magazine, one of the last few movie magazines left on the stands, and a personal favorite of mine. (I’ve also contributed for them over the years in the interest of full disclosure). Of course, the subject of Robocop came up, a film which Allen has fond memories of.
As Allen told Shock, “I got that script and the first thing I thought was, ‘I hope they’re going to change the title.’ I thought it was a terrible title. I didn’t think Robocop was something that was going to be for me. But I picked up the script and I just couldn’t put it down. The pages flew by. I knew this character. I decided that I had to play this part.”
Allen said she saw her character, Annie Lewis “very much as a loner. And very independent. She was someone who lived on her own and really didn’t depend on a relationship with a man. Maybe she was like my father a little bit too. My dad was a cop. So I think I took some of his characteristics and put them into that character. She was very dedicated to her job and just real. I liked that about her.”
And as for working with director Paul Verhoven, who also gave us Total Recall, Basic Instinct, and Starship Troopers? “He was a mad scientist,” Allen recalled. “He was wild. I loved him.” Yet Allen says looking back today she wouldn’t come back for the Robocop sequels.
Allen came on for Robocop 2 because it was going to be directed by Tim Hunter, who also helmed River’s Edge. “I loved the script,” which was written by Frank Miller (Sin City), and Walon Green (The Wild Bunch). Hunter left the project and was then replaced by The Empire Strikes Back helmer Irvin Kirshner, who Allen called “the most miserable human being that ever walked planet earth. I found out later that he didn’t want me to return for the role. He then ruined the script, taking the heart and soul out of it. Robocop 2 was missing everything that made the first film wonderful.”
