‘RoboCop’ Commences Filming – Starring Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton & Samuel L. Jackson

MGM and Columbia Pictures has announced that production is set to begin from Saturday, September 15th on Jose Padilha’s ‘RoboCop.’ The film stars Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, and Samuel L. Jackson, as well as Abbie Cornish, Jackie Earle Haley, Michael K. Williams, Jay Baruchel, Jennifer Ehle, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste. The screenplay for ‘RoboCop’ is by Josh Zetumer and Nick Schenk, based on the 1987 motion picture written by Edward Neumeier & Michael Miner. The film is produced by Marc Abraham and Eric Newman, with Bill Carraro serving as executive producer. ‘RoboCop’ is scheduled for a August 9th, 2013 release.

The 1987 Paul Verhoeven original was about a cop (Peter Weller) who was near death and was drafted to become a powerful cyborg cop, until suppressed memories of his past life come back to haunt him. The ‘RoboCop’ remake once had Darren Aronofsky developing it to direct before MGM halted progress on all of its pictures while they were going through financial difficulties. Sony Pictures will distribute the movie for MGM. Jose Padilha’s crime thrillers ‘Elite Squad’ and ‘Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within’ have been tremendously successful in the directors home country of Brazil. ‘Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within’ was Brazil’s submission for Best Foreign Language Film at the recent Academy Awards, and has to-date earned over $63 million domestically.

The synopsis for ‘RoboCop’ is as follows: In RoboCop, the year is 2029 and multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the center of robot technology. Their drones are winning American wars around the globe and now they want to bring this technology to the home front. Alex Murphy is a loving husband, father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit. After he is critically injured in the line of duty, OmniCorp utilizes their remarkable science of robotics to save Alex’s life. He returns to the streets of his beloved city with amazing new abilities, but with issues a regular man has never had to face before.

Commenting on the announcement, Jose Padilha said, “It’s exciting to think that we’re going to be starting production on ‘RoboCop.’ I have a dream cast and an incredibly creative production team, and we are all supremely dedicated, working together to make a movie that will not only live alongside the first film but also break new ground, be relevant for modern audiences, and stand on its own.”

Lula Carvalho is the Director of Photography. The production designer is Martin Whist. The editor is Daniel Rezende. Costume Designer is April Ferry. VFX Supervisor is James E. Price.