Motion pictures, motorcycles, technology and the future come together in the remake of RoboCop, set in the year 2028 and due for release on February 12.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Columbia Pictures set the table: Multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the center of robot technology. Overseas, their drones have been used by the military for years – and it has meant billions for OmniCorp’s bottom line. Now, OmniCorp wants to bring its controversial technology to the America, and they see a golden opportunity to do it. When Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) – a loving husband, father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit – is critically injured in the line of duty, OmniCorp sees their chance for a part-man, part-robot police officer. OmniCorp envisions a RoboCop in every city, and even more billions for their shareholders.
In the film, Officer Alex Murphy becomes the star product of OmniCorp, the world’s leading Robotics defense company. In a Detroit ravaged by crime, OmniCorp sees an opening for the perfect policeman – a robot that can clean up the city, without putting police lives at risk. Trouble is, the idea of a robot pulling the trigger makes people anxious. To get it done, they compromise: when Murphy is mortally wounded as he tries to take down Detroit’s most crooked criminals, he wakes up in the hospital mostly a robot, barely a man at all – but all cop.
For OmniCorp, Murphy represents a tremendous opportunity. “He’s a product they want to sell,” Padilha explains. “He’s a prototype. He’s been developed, just like a soda company might develop a new bottle: they’re trying to find the ideal design for a robot to sell to police departments. It’s potentially billions of dollars for the company, so they’re willing to cut a few ethical corners to get there. But they forgot something – inside the product, there is a man; it’s not just a suit, it’s a human being. They set up this invention that they think they can control, but they pick the wrong guy. They pick somebody too good, a guy determined to use his new powers for justice – no matter where his investigations lead.”
“OmniCorp’s idea is that they need a man inside the machine, a man who makes the decisions so the corporation won’t be held liable if something goes wrong,” says Joel Kinnaman, star of the television series “The Killing,” who plays Murphy. “They leave his emotions intact in social situations, but when facing a threat or when a crime is committed, the computer takes over. When they realize his emotions makes the system vulnerable they completely shut them off. But what happens to Alex is that his emotions start coming back and override the computer system. He starts making his own decisions, even when he’s in police mode. What is coming back? His soul? There’s so little of Alex left – where does the soul reside?”
Joining Kinnaman as Alex Murphy is Gary Oldman as Dr. Robert Norton, head of the Omni Foundation, who creates RoboCop; Michael Keaton as Raymond Sellars, OmniCorp’s CEO; Abbie Cornish as Alex Murphy’s wife, Clara Murphy; Jackie Earle Haley as Mattox, who trains Murphy after his transformation; Michael K. Williams as Alex Murphy’s partner, Officer Jack Lewis; Jennifer Ehle as Liz Kline, OmniCorp’s Chief Legal Counsel; Jay Baruchel as Pope, head of marketing for OmniCorp; Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Detroit Police Chief Karen Dean; and Samuel L. Jackson as Pat Novak, a television pundit.
RoboCop is directed by José Padilha, and the screenplay is by Josh Zetumer and Nick Schenk. Based on the 1987 Motion Picture written by Edward Neumeier & Michael Miner, the new RoboCop is produced by Marc Abraham and Eric Newman. James E. Price is the Visual Effects Supervisor. Executive Producers are Bill Carraro and Roger Birnbaum, with Lula Carvalho as the Director of Photography, the Production Designer is Martin Whist, and the movie is edited by Daniel Rezende and Peter McNulty. Costume Designer is April Ferry, with the music by Pedro Bromfman.
RoboCop will be released in theaters nationwide on February 12, 2014.