RoboCop meets Office Space in rampaging robot movie Automation

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Epic Pictures has picked up the distribution rights to director Garo Setian's sci-fi thriller AUTOMATION with the intention of releasing the film through their Dread banner later this year. Setian's feature directorial debut, AUTOMATION pits a cast of genre regulars against a rampaging robot.

Setian wrote the screenplay with Matthew L. Schaffer and Rolfe Kanefsky, a filmmaker I have been a fan of ever since catching his awesome horror comedy THERE'S NOTHING OUT THERE on cable around 25 years ago. 

Starring Elissa Dowling, Sadie Katz, Parry Shen, Graham Skipper, and Sarah French, AUTOMATION tells the following story: 

When a prototype automated worker robot named Auto has proven successful on the night shift at Alert Insulation, plans are put in motion to replace almost all the human employees with the next generation of robots. But to Auto’s dismay, he is also to be replaced by the new and improved robots — something he refuses to accept, and takes murderous action to prevent.

Setian produced the film with his wife Anahit Setian through their company Hungry Monster Entertainment. Mike Elliott, Greg Holstein, Joseph P. Genier, Rob Kerchner, Esther Goodstein, and Dan Bowen also produced it alongside them. 

The director told Rue Morgue that he set out to make a movie that was thrilling, funny, heartfelt and timely. Rob Galluzzo, director of distribution at Dread, said that AUTOMATION 

feels like a gem from the early Full Moon era; it’s like ROBOCOP meets OFFICE SPACE, and it’s a blast!"

A "ROBOCOP meet OFFICE SPACE" movie that feels like an early Full Moon movie sounds like something that would be right up my alley. I'm officially sold on AUTOMATION, and will be keeping an eye out for the release date announcement.

Rue Morgue also got their hands on some exclusive images from the film, one of which I have included below.