Real Steel Billboards Introduce the Robots; Plus, a Viral 'World Robot Boxing' Mystery
Posted 09.07.11 by BrentJS
After a series of posters were released for director Shawn Levy's (Date Night) upcoming sci-fi sports movie, Real Steel, that prominently featured Hugh Jackman, a new set of four character billboards have put the focus back on the real stars of the movie — the robots. Real Steel takes place in the near future, when robot fighters have replaced human boxers in the ring and centers around one former fighter named Charlie Kenton (Jackman), who was forced to become a promoter when robots took over the sport. When his last robot, Noisy Boy, is destroyed in a fight, Charlie is forced to put his faith in his estranged son, Max (Dakota Goyo), and Atom, a dusty old sparring robot that they find in a junk heap. With a unique "shadow function" allowing it to copy Charlie's own fighting style, Atom begins to win, bringing Charlie closer to the son he never knew and to the championship bout that always alluded him.
If you find the premise of Real Steel intriguing and think it would be awesome to have your own robot boxer, check out the 'World Robot Boxing' (WRB) league viral website. Not only does the site offer a brief history of robot boxing and contain some footage of robots in action, but it also includes a tool that allows you to build your own custom-designed robot fighter, train it, and then pit it against other robot boxers in a cool ARG (alternate reality game). And, it appears as if something big is about to happen on the WRB site. Popular movie news site ComingSoon recently received a Real Steel viral marketing package that included, among other things, a note from an anti-WRB group calling themselves "The Underworld" promising "a real bot fight" on the WRB site on Thursday, Sept. 8th.
Real Steel was written by John Gatins, from a story by Dan Gilroy and Jeremy Leven. It is based on the 1956 short story "Steel" by prolific author and screenwriter Richard Matheson (Stir of Echoes, I Am Legend). Evangeline Lilly, Kevin Durand, Anthony Mackie, Hope Davis, James Rebhorn and Olga Fonda also star.
Next Showing: Real Steel opens Oct. 7