RoboCop remake: ‘Hell’ for director José Padilha
Fernando Meirelles (photo), the first and to date only Brazilian-born filmmaker to receive a Best Director Academy Award nomination, was recently interviewed by the Brazilian publication Trip. Below are a couple of quotes from the Meirelles interview, including one in which the City of God director explains that (controversial) Golden Bear winner José Padilha (Elite Squad) is having a tough time working on the MGM/Columbia co-production RoboCop, a remake of Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 box office hit.
“I spoke with José Padilha on the phone about a week ago. He’s going to start shooting RoboCop. He says it has been the worst experience of his life. Out of every ten ideas he has, nine are shot down. Anything he wants, he must fight for it. ‘This is hell,’ he told me. ‘The movie is going to be good, but I’ve never suffered like this before and I don’t want to ever go through this again.’ He is embittered, but he’s a fighter.”
Fernando Meirelles: Working outside the studio system
As for his own filmmaking experiences, Fernando Meirelles added that “I’ve never made a movie for an actual Hollywood studio. Every movie I’ve made, including 360, has been an indie I co-produced. For that reason, my relationship with the other producers is that of a partner, not an employee. That changes everything. I get offers and screenplays from the American studios, but I’ve never wanted to follow up on those. Life is too short and their filmmaking process is too long.”
In the interview, Meirelles also states that actors are not cattle, “as Fellini would say.” (Actually, that’s an Alfred Hitchcock quote.) “Not to make use of actors’ sensibilities is an imbecility,” the director affirms.
Among the actors with whom Fernando Meirelles has worked, are Best Supporting Actress Oscar winner Rachel Weisz and Ralph Fiennes in The Constant Gardener; Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Alice Braga, Gael García Bernal, and Danny Glover in Blindness; and Weisz, Jude Law, Moritz Bleibtreu, Ben Foster, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, and Anthony Hopkins in 360.
RoboCop remake cast
Written by Nick Schenk, James Vanderbilt, and Joshua Zetumer, RoboCop features Joel Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish, Jay Baruchel, Gary Oldman, Jennifer Ehle, Samuel L. Jackson, Jackie Earle Haley, Michael Kenneth Williams, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste. Peter Weller and Nancy Allen had the leads in Paul Verhoeven’s original film.
Also worth noting is that in the new RoboCop crew are two previous José Padilha collaborators: Elite Squad: The Enemy Within cinematographer Lula Carvalho and editor Daniel Rezende. To date, Elite Squad: The Enemy Within is Brazil’s biggest blockbuster ever (at least in U.S. dollar figures).
Padilha’s RoboCop is scheduled for an Aug. 9, 2013, release.
Note: Though a naturalized Brazilian citizen, Hector Babenco was born in Argentina. Babenco was a Best Director Oscar nominee for Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985).
Aug. 29
Michael Keaton joins RoboCop cast
Michael Keaton, best known for playing Bruce Wayne / Batman in Tim Burton’s Batman movies (photo), will play the character Raymond Sellars in the MGM / Columbia Pictures’ RoboCop remake, reports Deadline.com. Hugh Laurie had been initially tapped for the role of the RoboCop-producing company CEO. Filming with Elite Squad director José Padilha at the helm should begin in September; RoboCop is scheduled for an August 9, 2013, release.
In the Deadline piece, José Padilha is quoted as saying the sort of thing that studio publicists put into filmmakers’ mouths:
Michael is the final addition to the amazing cast we have assembled for this film and it is so great to have the last puzzle piece in place. It is thrilling that everything has come together to bring this innovative new vision of RoboCop to life. We’ve got a great script, a great cast, some killer ED-209’s and I can’t wait to get Alex Murphy back on the streets.
But while studio publicists weren’t looking, City of God director Fernando Meirelles told the Brazilian magazine Trip that the Golden Bear-winning Padilha was having a hell of a time dealing with studio executives.
‘RoboCop’ remake cast
Written by Nick Schenk, James Vanderbilt, and Joshua Zetumer, in addition to Michael Keaton RoboCop will feature Joel Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish, Jay Baruchel, Gary Oldman, Jennifer Ehle, Samuel L. Jackson, Jackie Earle Haley, Michael Kenneth Williams, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste. Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O’Herlihy, and Miguel Ferrer were a few of the performers in Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 original film.
The new RoboCop crew includes (at least) two previous José Padilha collaborators: Elite Squad: The Enemy Within cinematographer Lula Carvalho and editor Daniel Rezende. To date, Elite Squad: The Enemy Within is Brazil’s biggest blockbuster ever (at least in U.S. dollar figures).
Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne / Batman: Warner Bros.
Sept. 18
RoboCop 2013 suit: sexy or sacrilegious?
The RoboCop 2013 suit has been revealed, thanks to the above photo taken on José Padilha’s RoboCop set and posted at various online sites. Forget the fast-disappearing polar ice caps, religious fanatics trying to set the planet on fire, and the world’s precarious economic condition. The Internet has been abuzz because of the RoboCop suit, which looks much more, huh, enhancing than the cyborgish original found in Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 classic of sorts.
RoboCop 2013 cast, release date
The RoboCop 2013 reboot features Joel Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish, Michael Keaton, Jay Baruchel, Gary Oldman, Jennifer Ehle, Samuel L. Jackson, Jackie Earle Haley, Michael Kenneth Williams, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste. Paul Verhoeven’s movie featured Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O’Herlihy, and Miguel Ferrer.
RoboCop is scheduled to come out on August 9, 2013. If the movie is successful, then August 2013 won’t be as dismal as August 2012 at the North American box office.
12 comments
So 9 out 10 ideas were shot down? This movie is going to horrible now. Hopefully they keep it over the top gore like the first 2..remember when two guys were going to rape the girl in the alley and Robocop shot between her legs and blew the dudes dick off?!?!?! I bet ther ewont be ANYTHING like that in this new one..ill still see it to give it a shot. Just not very high hopes
Unfortunately another classic ruined.
Agree with the former comments. It looks cool… at least if it had to be a kind of combat armor for a space marine/what Detroit police forces could wear as protection instead of bulletproof vests/the like.
Original RoboCop quite clearly didn’t look as if he was wearing the armor. He WAS the armor, with below the little that remained of Alex Murphy. Bad thing, and the new design of of ED-209 also does not help. Wonder if at least it will have the message -1987- RoboCop had, but I doubt it.
Yup I’m sure it’s gonna be hell for us as well
This is bad, this is so freaking bad…
I feel for the guy, but at the same time, Rule #1 about Robocop remakes is you DO NOT MAKE A ROBOCOP REMAKE. That should have been obvious. Hopefully his next gig will be better.
I’ll will never forget when I say the first movie of Robocop back in the 80’s. I was about 12 years old. I remember I immediately loved it. So much so that I ended up getting the toys of Robocop, ED209 and a few toy vehicles. Now, as a grown up, I was hoping that Hollywood would make a new Robocop movie for the modern times. I was hoping for an improvement of the original. I guess that that that was too much to expect knowing that it would be hard if not impossible to improve such a bad ass movie.
Wow! they messed robocop up. he looks like a ninja. what they should have done was take the old suit and make little adjustments to it
When i first saw this new suit i thought it was cool.Than was watched the original i was shocked to see that he actually still looked like a robot. Now this just looks like a guy in a plastic suit. In the riginal when you see his face looks. like a robot that has a face of a man. In the .image of this new suit whenyou can see his face looks even more like just a guy in a cheep robot suit. Hopefuly it will looks better on the big screen in motion.
Apart from the fact they could have used the spare props from batman. It really does just look like a guy in a suit and nothing that is going to stay in my head. Why don’t they colour him up a little more like the policemen in the classic arcade NARC if they’re going for that style.
Oh and please, if this is not a certificate 18 bordering on requiring cuts through ultra OTT violence, then I really have no time for it! I’ve never seen Robocop 3, or ever will.
cheers
some 35 year old with respect for the original
sacrilegious ?????? IT IS FUCKING ANNOYING !! TELL THEM TO CHANGE THE SUIT OR I WILL FUCKING COMMENT EVERY WHERE THIS POSTER IS !! don’t hurt our feelings and childhood dreams !
Little babies!