Robocop remake: Joel Kinnaman on where the film went wrong

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

Paul Verhoeven's Robocop is one hell of a movie, so any attempt to remake it would naturally be met with skepticism, and that's exactly what MGM received when they announced that they would be reimagining the film. Despite a cast that included Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, and Samuel L. Jackson, the 2014 Robocop remake never really stood a chance as it wound up being released to mixed reviews.

While speaking on The Playlist Podcast, Joel Kinnaman looked back on the experience of making Robocop, which was his first big movie. "I had to quell all my instincts for everything over the course of that film," Kinnaman said. "I’m like, ‘Why am I wearing a black suit?' That doesn’t make any sense at all." Kinnaman added that he got into trouble with the studio right after he was cast as Alex Murphy/Robocop.

The first interview I did for ‘RoboCop,’ and it was right after I was cast…I got the first questions for ‘RoboCop,’ and the question was, ‘So, is it going to be R-rated?’ And I was like, ‘Of course, it’s going to be R-rated! Only an idiot would make “RoboCop” a PG-13 movie.’ Cut to the next morning—47 missed calls I woke up to.

"What I feel like the whole movie didn’t take into account is what the fans loved about [the original [‘RoboCop’]," Kinnaman continued. "And you have to pay homage to that. And I think the producers and the filmmakers and me included didn’t really understand how to do that in the right way. I think it’s a really solid movie, it just didn’t fit the ‘RoboCop’ concept." Admittedly it's been a few years since I last watched the Robocop remake, but I remember it being not nearly as bad as I was expecting, just forgettable, but Robocop certainly deserved better. Joel Kinnaman will next be seen reprising his role of Rick Flag for James Gunn's The Sucide Squad, which will hit theaters and HBO Max on August 6, 2021.