Gary Oldman Joins Robocop Remake
Posted 05.24.12 by Ryan
Months after actor Joel Kinnaman (AMC's The Killing) was confirmed to play the lead role in the upcoming remake of Robocop, another cast member has finally been added. THR reports that Gary Oldman has joined the cast of the remake directed by Jose Padilha (Elite Squad).
Like director Paul Verhoeven's 1987 original, Kinnaman will play Alex Murphy, a Detroit cop who is saved from the brink of death by being turned into the cyborg protector of the futuristic city. Unlike the original, Oldman will play a character named Norton, the scientist who creates Robocop and ultimately finds himself stuck between the needs of the corporation and Robocop's attempt to rediscover his humanity. In the original, Miguel Ferrer played Bob Morton, a wormy executive that helped usher the Robocop program through Omni Consumer Products, but didn't have scruples about it later.
Robocop will likely start shooting this September in Toronto and could be released next summer. The script has been worked on by a variety of writers under Padilha's supervision, starting with Josh Zetumer, with rewrites by Nick Schenk (Gran Torino) and James Vanderbilt (The Amazing Spider-Man).
Oldman, meanwhile, is as busy as ever. The actor will appear in the highly-anticipated sequel The Dark Knight Rises and crime movie Lawless this summer. Oldman returns to portraying villainy in the revenge thriller Motor City, which will co-star Gerard Butler. That movie has a September start date.
Next Showing: Robocop is scheduled to open on August 9, 2013