Joel Kinnaman talks Robocop; more plot details unveiled

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

A recent press release concerning the Western European release rights to Jose Padilha’s ROBOCOP reboot (which were acquired by StudioCanal) casually dropped some more info on the upcoming movie’s plot. Guess what… The premise sounds pretty much exactly like Paul Verhoeven’s original, which can be both a good thing (respecting the source material and all) and a bad thing (as many are hoping for a fresh new take on the story). Then again, it’s probably for the best that they’re not trying to mess with the basics. Read it yourself below:

In RoboCop, the year is 2029 and multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the centre 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 utilises 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.

In related news, the new Alex Murphy himself, Joel Kinnaman, was recently interviewed by Collider. Here’s what he had to say…

…on the remake and working with Jose Padilha:

“It’s a re-imagining. There are ideas from the first movie that have been remade in the second one, but it’s a completely new take on it. We have a fantastic director, Jose Padilha, who reminds me of Daniel Espinosa, in some ways. He’s a very confident, bold director. He wrote, directed and produced Elite Squad and Elite Squad 2, which he also distributed. They’re the two highest-grossing films in Brazil, which is an audience of 150 million people. You need that kind of a strong force in a director that’s going to do his first movie with a big studio. You need a person that can stand his ground on certain things, and know which battles are worth fighting and where you compromise. If you’ve seen his movies, you know that he’s a very talented actor’s director. The acting is superb in his films, and the action is very, very believable. He also has a history of being a physicist. His knowledge of where robotics and neuroscience is now is a complete understanding of where the cutting edge is. He’s working with the writers on a plausible version of 2041, and that’s going to be very interesting. The core of it will be something of substance, and then you have the fireworks around it.”

…on working with a cast that includes Samuel L. Jackson and Gary Oldman:

“I don’t think I have any scenes with Samuel L. Jackson, but I have a lot of scenes with Gary Oldman. I’ve followed Gary Oldman for a very long time, even before I was interested in acting. But then, after I started making acting my profession, I’ve studied him. I’ve seen Nil by Mouth, the only movie that he wrote and directed, and I know that it’s based on his childhood. I’ve seen that movie five times. I find him incredibly inspiring to watch, so I couldn’t be happier. I’m so proud to get an opportunity to work with him.”

…on whether he’ll be doing his own stunts:

“I won’t do any stupid things. I won’t jump off buildings. But, I’ll try to do as much as I can.”

The latest model of ROBOCOP is set to arrive in theaters on August 9th, 2013, starring Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Samuel L Jackson, Hugh Laurie and possibly Abbie Cornish (below).