Gran Torino Screenwriter to Work on RoboCop Reboot
Posted 02.01.12 by Ryan
If there's one person who knows how to write movies about enforcers protecting the streets of Detroit, it's Gran Torino scribe Nick Schenk.
THR reports that Schenk's next job will bring him back to the Motor City to work on the screenplay for the remake of Robocop for studio MGM and director Jose Padilha (Elite Squad). Schenk and Padilha have also been working together on the upcoming action thriller Tri-Border.
Like Paul Verhoeven's 1987 original, the remake will take a cop gunned down in the line of duty and bring him back to life as a cyborg police officer who protects the futuristic city of New Detroit. Padilha was hired to direct last March, and has said that his RoboCop won't repeat the "political tone" of Verhoeven's original but will concentrate on questions like, "what does it mean to lose your free will?"
When Padilha was hired, MGM also brought screenwriter Josh Zetumer on board to write the script, and it is unclear whether Schenk is performing a rewrite or is starting from scratch. It's likely the former as Padilha said last September that he was hoping to deliver a new script for the studio to approve so he could start casting and possibly start shooting RoboCop "around January, February, [or] March". Even with Schenk's help, the report claims that Padilha will more likely start shooting this summer.
No casting decision have been made yet, but Padilha has casually mentioned that he liked X-Men: First Class' Michael Fassbender for the lead role of Alex Murphy, though he had yet to contact the actor. Two months later, Fassbender revealed that he thought the role could be "kind of fun", but, again, had yet to speak with Padilha. Whether the two have met in the intervening months is unknown.