A gritty, white-knuckle, action ride set in the near-future, where the sport of boxing has gone hi-tech, ‘Real Steel’ stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback. The film is directed by Shawn Levy (‘Night at the Museum’ franchise and ‘Date Night’).  ‘Real Steel’ co-stars the likes of Evangeline Lilly, Kevin Durand, Anthony Mackie, Hope Davis, James Rebhorn and Karl Yune. The film comes to cinemas October 7th in the US, and October 14th in the UK. Check out what Hugh Jackman had to say about ‘Real Steel’ below.

How important was it for this movie to have the action balancing out the emotional side of the story, with the son side of things?

Hugh Jackman: Oh completely, that’s what I call a movie – that’s a film. We all love action, not only is the action is fantastic, but on its own….I’m not going to see a movie if it’s just crazy action. I mean, I think my son probably would, he’s 11, but for me that’s not going to happen, so this is a movie that’s intended to play as it did when I first saw it with my mother-in-law, my wife, and my kids – and they all loved it. My mother-in-law is not going to see a boxing robot film if it’s just that, so it’s vital. And I think also, you’ve got robots, how do you feel for robots? How do you actually get emotionally invested in it? I think you do that through the people involved around them.

This film has heart and soul and spectacle, how hard is it to find those kind of movies? 

Hugh Jackman: Movies like this are very hard to find, because it’s one of the most difficult things to pull off. A movie that genuinely plays for my mother-in-law and my 6 year-old and 11 year-old kids – that’s very difficult to pull off. I mean, Pixar seems to be doing it well, and DreamWorks animation seems to be doing a good job, but there are not a lot of movies that do, do that. I think that’s why it’s difficult and rare, and for me I just connected to the story. It reminded me of ‘Rocky’ when I was growing up, this sports story, it makes you feel good in the end. It’s fun and it’s entertaining, and dare I say might even bring a tear to the eye (laughs).

The movie is a lot to do with redemption….

Hugh Jackman: It is a total redemption tale. Charlie is a guy, to start with, who’s lost belief in himself, he thinks the world has passed him over. He doesn’t feel anything anymore because it’s easier to live that way. When life is disappointing to you and you get hurt so much you end up just switching off, and I think that’s something we can all relate to on some level. I fully expected us to be re-shooting the movie after the studio saw it. Look, they agreed with the script, they loved it. But you never know until you see it fully together if you’ve gone too far. I really applaud DreamWorks and Disney, who are distributing the movie as well, that they went for it.

Has your son seen the film?

Hugh Jackman: Absolutely, he loved it. He doesn’t talk about the father and son. He did say to me, ‘So, can I drink sodas for breakfast now?’ (Laughs) But genuinely, he didn’t talk about it, he just got wrapped up in the story of Atom. He loved that robot and the idea of the robot. He saw the magic in that robot just like Dakota’s character does.

Charlie also has some redemption as a fighter in the end, right?

Hugh Jackman: Right, and I thought that was a stroke of genius. It was so inventive, in the way you see him coming to life again. In that moment, I’ll never forget, as we were filming Dakota and the camera was coming around the ring, and he’s watching, like getting into Atom and coming back and fighting, and then he catches his father out of the corner of his eye, and you can see it all go to Charlie. There was not a dry eye, let me tell you (laughs). That to me, is one of the single most powerful moments of this film – it’s saying so many things about how we need our father, how we need our fathers to be at their best too. We need to see them fully alive, and in this moment you see him doing the thing he loves to do, the thing that no one else has allowed him to do. The world has said, ‘We don’t care about boxing, you’re gone.’ That’s another bit. Like Anthony Mackie’s character and Kevin Durand’s character and my character, all boxers, and now they’re desperately trying to eke out a living, and they’re being discarded.

Why do you think so many boxing movies work time after time, generation after generation?

Hugh Jackman: I think dramatically it’s such a perfect scenario. You have two simple casts, you have a very confined space, you have clear delineations of victor and vanquished. You have probably the greatest test there is for a human, in terms of a mixture of courage, of heart, of mental acuity, relaxation, strength, and brawn. That’s why it’s always been around in some form of it. It’s all those things that we see nakedly. You’ve got these guys who wear shorts, they’re not even wearing clothes, it’s they’re all stripped down. So you see everything that’s going on and somehow the pressure of a fight we can all relate to, as probably all of us can feel our hearts beating and imagine what it would be like stepping into the ring.

Who are the boxers that you really remember having an affect on you?

Hugh Jackman: Probably the first I really connected to was Mike Tyson. I was never allowed to watch boxing growing up, my father was a champion boxer, and I never knew about it until his brother told me when I was about 16. Because my brother and I used to beat the hell out of each other, so my dad probably rightly assumed, ‘I’m never going to talk about boxing. I’m never going to show them boxing. I’m never going to show wrestling.’ I mean of course, my mates at school and I would do it, but my dad never talked about it. So I was not watching fights when Sugar Ray was boxing, people like Ali – I knew about it, but I discovered him later. It was Tyson that first really got my attention.

How about boxing movies?

Hugh Jackman: My favourite boxing movie is ‘When We Were Kings,’ which is a documentary. I think that’s one of the greatest movies of all time, very inspiring. Also ‘Rocky,’ ‘Raging Bull,‘ ‘The Hurricane,’ ‘The Fighter’ was great as well. There are a lot of great movies.

A gritty, white-knuckle, action ride set in the near-future, where the sport of boxing has gone hi-tech, ‘Real Steel’ stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback. The film is directed by Shawn Levy (‘Night at the Museum’ franchise and ‘Date Night’).  ‘Real Steel’ co-stars the likes of Evangeline Lilly, Kevin Durand, Anthony Mackie, Hope Davis, James Rebhorn and Karl Yune. The film comes to cinemas October 7th in the US, and October 14th in the UK. Check out what Hugh Jackman had to say about ‘Real Steel’ below. Look out for a more in-depth interview with Hugh Jackman closer to the films release date.

Can you talk about this world of robot boxing and how Charlie links within that story?

Hugh Jackman: Robots have got to the sophistication where they can now fight in the ring, it is the biggest sport in the world, there’s money, there’s sponsorship, everyone all around the world is into this. Kids are into it, adults are into it, women, men, everybody. All these robots have different personas and different nicknames, you have your favourites – it’s huge (laughs). In this world is my character Charlie Kenton, who is an owner of robots, he’s in the fight game – the robot fighting game, and he’s not very successful at it. In fact he’s doing everything he can, because he’s pretty desperately trying to eek out a living and he’s not very successful at doing that. Most of the time he doesn’t spend his time in the big, sanctioned World Robot League tournaments, but in the underworld, illegal gambling, small time things – he’s on the run from people he owes money to, he’s pretty much at the bottom of his life, on the bottom rung in every way. But he gets a sort of second chance and he knows he’s not gonna make the same mistakes.

As you said, the robots all have their own personalities, especially with Atom.

Hugh Jackman: Oh yeah, in the film they find a robot in a junkyard called Atom, the kid really believes in this robot. He thinks this robot saved his life, he thinks this robot is somehow magical, contains some powers – Charlie, who’s been in this world, he’s very much the realist and a cynic, he disapproves the whole thing. But in fact this robot does turn out to be something special. All in all we have nineteen robots, each with great personality and their own persona, there’s a whole mystique and story behind them. Each one is gonna appeal to someone different. I can tell you right now, we have a kind of hero in Atom, who everyone will love, but there will be different sub-groups, some will like Zeus, some will like Midus, with his down and dirty Mohawk – they’ve got their own personality. People will love different ones.

How was it acting with real robots, as opposed to CGI?

Hugh Jackman: Having the real robot as an actor, it makes a HUGE difference (laughs). When I first saw these real robots, me not my character, when I first saw them being puppeteered by these genius puppeteers, I instantly turned into a ten year old (laughs) – standing next to a ten year old! We both had the same looks on our faces, you can’t help but be drawn into the magic. It’s very difficult, practically for a ten year old to do that when you’re looking at a tennis ball on the end of stick. I don’t care who you are as an actor, having that there makes a huge difference. Shawn Levy done a brilliant job to create a world that’s very real, very gritty, very timeless and with robots that are sort of very everyday.

Sugar Ray Leonard helped train you for Charlie’s boxing scenes, that must have been pretty awesome?

Hugh Jackman: Shawn Levy to me, ‘You know we’re going to do some boxing, I want you/Charlie to look like a boxer, we have those scenes where you need to do that, it’s really important that people believe that you are a boxer.’ I said, ‘Absolutely.’ And he said, ‘So I was thinking of bringing in Sugar Ray Leonard to work with you.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I think that might work,’ (laughs). Sugar Ray Leonard is one of the greats of all-time – I’m a HUGE fan of his. I was a little intimidated by him at first, particularly getting in the ring and boxing with him, I thought, ‘I’m just gonna watch.’ It was such a great great experience, so great!

DreamWorks have let out the hatch this great new featurette for Shawn Levy’s upcoming action-drama ‘Real Steel,’ showcasing Hugh Jackman and the cast talking about boxing hall-of-famer Sugar Ray Leonard’s role as the boxing consultant on the film. Alongside Hugh Jackman, ‘Real Steel’ stars the likes of Evangeline Lilly, Kevin Durand, Anthony Mackie, Dakota Goyo, Hope Davis, James Rebhorn and Karl Yune. ‘Real Steel’ comes to cinemas October 7th in the US, and October 14th in the UK. The film is inspired by the short story ‘Steel’ from author Richard Matheson (I Am Legend). Look out for interviews with the cast soon.

A gritty, white-knuckle, action ride set in the near-future, where the sport of boxing has gone hi-tech, “Real Steel” stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback. “Real Steel” is directed by Shawn Levy (“Night at the Museum” franchise and “Date Night”).

DreamWorks have let out the hatch this new clip from Shawn Levy’s upcoming family action-drama ‘Real Steel.’ The film stars the likes of Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, Kevin Durand, Anthony Mackie, Dakota Goyo, Hope Davis, James Rebhorn, and a bunch of boxing robots. ‘Real Steel’ comes to cinemas October 7th in the US, and October 14th in the UK. The film is inspired by the short story ‘Steel’ from author Richard Matheson (I Am Legend). Look out for interviews with the cast soon.

A gritty, white-knuckle, action ride set in the near-future, where the sport of boxing has gone hi-tech, “Real Steel” stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback. “Real Steel” is directed by Shawn Levy (“Night at the Museum” franchise and “Date Night”).

DreamWorks have let out the hatch this TV spot for Shawn Levy’s upcoming family action-drama ‘Real Steel.’ The film stars the likes of Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, Kevin Durand, Anthony Mackie, Dakota Goyo, Hope Davis, James Rebhorn, and a bunch of boxing robots. ‘Real Steel’ comes to cinemas October 7th in the US, and October 14th in the UK. The film is inspired by the short story ‘Steel’ from author Richard Matheson (I Am Legend). Look out for interviews with the cast soon.

A gritty, white-knuckle, action ride set in the near-future, where the sport of boxing has gone hi-tech, “Real Steel” stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback. “Real Steel” is directed by Shawn Levy (“Night at the Museum” franchise and “Date Night”).

DreamWorks have let out the hatch this new poster for Shawn Levy’s upcoming family action-drama ‘Real Steel.’ The film stars the likes of Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, Kevin Durand, Anthony Mackie, Dakota Goyo, Hope Davis, James Rebhorn, and a bunch of boxing robots. ‘Real Steel’ comes to cinemas October 7th in the US, and October 14th in the UK. Look out for interviews with the cast soon.

A gritty, white-knuckle, action ride set in the near-future, where the sport of boxing has gone hi-tech, “Real Steel” stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback.

“COURAGE IS STRONGER THAN STEEL.” DreamWorks Pictures have today liberated this new “Main Event” featurette for Shawn Levy’s upcoming family action-drama ‘Real Steel.’ The film comes to cinemas October 7th and features a fine cast in Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, Kevin Durand, Anthony Mackie, Dakota Goyo, Hope Davis and James Rebhorn. Look out for interview with the cast soon.

A gritty, white-knuckle, action ride set in the near-future, where the sport of boxing has gone hi-tech, “Real Steel” stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback.

“COURAGE IS STRONGER THAN STEEL.” DreamWorks have today liberated this new UK poster for Shawn Levy’s upcoming family action-drama ‘Real Steel.’ The film comes to cinemas October 7th, 2011 and features a fine cast in Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, Kevin Durand, Anthony Mackie, Dakota Goyo, Hope Davis and James Rebhorn.

A gritty, white-knuckle, action ride set in the near-future, where the sport of boxing has gone hi-tech, “Real Steel” stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback.

Comingsoon have got their mitts on this new poster for Shawn Levy’s upcoming family action-drama ‘Real Steel.’ The film comes to cinemas October 7th, 2011 and features a fine cast in Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, Kevin Durand, Anthony Mackie, Dakota Goyo, Hope Davis and James Rebhorn.

A gritty, white-knuckle, action ride set in the near-future, where the sport of boxing has gone hi-tech, “Real Steel” stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback.

Yahoo have debuted this new trailer for Shawn Levy’s Rocky meets Transformers flick ‘Real Steel.’ To be honest this film baffles me, a movie with Hugh Jackman training robots………I don’t get it, I would have loved to be in the meetings when they were pitching this film, I’m completely confuzzled! ‘Real Steel’ comes to cinemas October 7th, 2011 and stars Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, Kevin Durand, Anthony Mackie, Dakota Goyo, Hope Davis and James Rebhorn.

A gritty, white-knuckle, action ride set in the near-future, where the sport of boxing has gone hi-tech, “Real Steel” stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback.