Production begins very soon on Jose Padilha's re-imagining of 1987's Robobcop, and one final piece of casting has taken place with Michael Keaton stepping into the role recently vacated by Hugh Laurie. Keaton will play the movie's big bad Raymond Sellars, CEO of Omnicorp, the corporation which turns Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) into the titular cyborg. He will join other cast members Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Kenneth Williams, Jay Baruchel, Abbie Cornish, and Jackie Earle Healy. Speaking of the casting, Padilha had this to say:
“Michael is the final addition to the amazing cast we have assembled for this film and it is so great to have the last puzzle piece in place. It is thrilling that everything has come together to bring this innovative new vision of RoboCop to life. We’ve got a great script, a great cast, some killer ED-209’s and I can’t wait to get Alex Murphy back on the streets.”
I think this is a great piece of casting. Keaton is a fantastic actor, and one that we don't see enough of these days. There is a really strong cast assembled for this, and I can't wait to see what Padilha does with it.
Synopsis: 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.
Released: 9th August 2013
Source: Deadline
