Hugh Laurie may appear in the remake of 'RoboCop'
Now that House, M.D. has , star Hugh Laurie is once again available for more than the occasional onscreen appearance (Street Kings) or voiceover job (Arthur Christmas). Besides a leading role in the upcoming Mister Pip adaptation, it looks like Laurie鈥檚 next significant live-action role will be a part in the remake/reboot.
Laurie is currently in negotiations for the new RoboCop;聽assuming a deal is struck, he鈥檒l聽portray the villainous CEO of Omnicorp (known as Omni Consumer Products, in the original film), the organization responsible for resurrecting near-dead Detroit cop Alex Murphy () as the titular super-human cyborg.
Credit for the scoop on Laurie circling RoboCop goes to ; as is also mentioned in their report, the actor could join a cast that already includes such noteworthy people as Abbie Cornish (Bright Star), Gary Oldman, and in supporting roles. That鈥檚 a different collection of talent than the buzz-worthy acting crew MGM/Sony was supposedly eying originally (including, ), but it鈥檚 equally impressive. Certainly, part of the appeal of the RoboCop do-over (for the actors) is the opportunity to appear in the first Hollywood vehicle helmed by聽acclaimed Brazilian filmmaker, Jos茅 Padilha (Elite Squad).
Few concrete details are currently available for the RoboCop聽reboot script, which Nick Schenk (Gran Torino), James Vanderbilt (), and promising newcomer Joshua Zetumer share screenwriting credits on. Padilha previously indicated that will explore the process (physical and psychological) that Murphy undergoes to become a half-machine; moreover, Murphy鈥檚 (ex-)wife (Cornish) is expected to play a much more significant role in the proceedings. Those elements alone could help to distinguish 笔补诲颈濒丑补鈥檚 RoboCop from Verhoeven鈥檚, considering Murphy鈥檚 wife was only featured via flashbacks in his version 鈥� and the title character鈥檚 transformation was covered over the course of a brief montage (shown entirely from Murphy鈥檚 POV).
笔补诲颈濒丑补鈥檚 RoboCop will also cover social themes similar to those in Verhoeven鈥檚 movie (in particular, ), in addition to exploring ideas about the increased prevalence of technology in our everyday lives. There鈥檚 certainly a risk that the satire in RoboCop could fall on the preachy side 鈥� or (worse?) retread the exact same territory as Verhoeven did 鈥� but Padilha has already demonstrated a knack for mixing social commentary with gritty violence, which bodes well for the remake. Having people like Laurie and Oldman around to humanize the film鈥檚 鈥渆vil businessmen鈥� should also help, in that regard.
RoboCop is scheduled to begin production later this summer, in order to make an August 9th, 2013 U.S. theatrical release date.
Sandy Schaefer blogs at .
