It has almost become a Hollywood cliche that whenever a major project is in development, Star Trek star Chris Pine’s name ends up being reportedly attached. The latest project reportedly looking at Pine is MGM’s reboot of RoboCop. More info below.
Chris Pine as new RoboCop?
For the last few years MGM has been developing a reboot/remake of RoboCop, Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 cult classic about a Detroit cop turned cyborg. The new RoboCop is currently being written with Jose Padiha tapped to direct. A number of actors have been said to be under consideration to star, including Keanu Reeves, Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp. All were more in line in age with Peter Weller when he originally played Officer Alex Murphay/RoboCop. Now a new report at Twitch says that MGM is interested in a younger actor to take on the role, with Star Trek’s Chris Pine (who is 30) at the top of their list.
Chris Pine is already taking on two major franchise recastings, as Star Trek’s James T. Kirk and as the new Jack Ryan from the next Tom Clancy movie. Pine is expected to be spending much of the next year playing Kirk and Ryan for Paramount so it isn’t clear if he would even be available to MGM for RoboCop. And while MGM may be interested in Pine, it isn’t clear if Pine would be interested in taking on yet another action-film franchise role.
Peter Weller (L) in original RoboCop (1987) – Could Chris Pine step into is cybernetic boots?
Chris will next be seen in the the action comedy This Means War, where he battles with Tom Hardy (Shinzon of Star Trek Nemesis) over the affections of Reese Witherspoon, as well as Welcome to People, a family drama written by Star Trek scribes Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman and directed by Kurtzman. Both films have wrapped production and will be released in early 2012.
Why not Pine as Buckaroo Banzai instead?
Ok… if he is interested in this film… if he makes this movie…. if… if… I buy my ticket…
Star Trek Sequel… if… I buy the ticket, too! LOL…
:-) :-)
I ‘got’ that Justice Boy, lol.
Personally, rather than another unnecessary remake of an already terrific original, I’d rather the studios would greenlight more fresh concepts instead. Or at least remake potentially good movies that were badly executed/poorly directed to begin with!
Still, Pine would be fine in the role I guess, if they must.
Chris Pine =/= Peter Weller. End of Line.
Anyway that helmet… will show the beautiful lips of Chris Pine… “if”, of course! …+LOL
:-) :-)
How about we not remake RoboCop and have…I dunno…an original film? With an original story? Maybe?
Don’t do it.
I hope this happens. I like “Robocop”, and because of the crap sequels and poor tv versions, I think it is ripe for a reboot.
I just wonder if they’d bring back Clarence Boddicker.
The first “Robocop” featured actors who would play prominent roles in some popular Trek two-parters:
Peter Weller, “Terra Prime”
Ronnie Cox, “Chain Of Command”
Kurtwood Smith, “Year Of Hell”
No remake, please. The original is fine just as it is.
Time for Hollywood to put away the tracing paper and crayons and put those college degrees to work. There must be someone at the big studios who has read these things called novels—books that tell stories which can be adapted into movies.
Yeah, I know it’s a wild concept, but it can be done.
Peter Weller had a very slim, bird-like physique (look at him when he enters his first scene in a regular shirt) which was ideal for wearing a robot costume, and he was very serious about movement training for the role. He was hired, like Christopher Reeve as Superman, because he he had the best body and skill to make something ridiculous look serious and believable from the first glance to the final climax. Chris Pine shouldn’t be cast in RoboCop only because he’s a hot leading actor in action/sci-fi films. That could turn out like casting Val Kilmer and George Clooney as Batman, good actors trapped in toy commercials that make their charm and abilities irrelevant.
I can actually see ZQ as a better Robocop than Pine. Spock-like qualities could definitely enhance a re-imagining of Officer Murphy, whose portrayal, BTW, by Peter Weller, is absolutely iconic.
I’m frankly worried about “Total Recall” and “Robocop” as originally imagined by Paul Verhoeven, redone as disposable action flicks by lesser directors. Verhoeven’s takes on these stories were part of what made them special.
1.”Serve the public trust”
2.”Protect the innocent”
3.”Uphold the law”
4. “Dead or Alive, you’re coming with me”
He might as well do Robocop since the new Trek film won’t get made until 2015.
This would be a huge career mistake for Chris Pine. He’s already lined up to play Jim Kirk and Jack Ryan in two established franchises. That’s enough on THAT front. Any time he has left over should be for smaller independent films where he can really show off his “acting muscles”. That would give him a more solid grounding for a long and sustained career. Not Robocrap!
Here’s an even better question: Why remake Robocop when it was a great piece of corporate satire and action film rolled into one but will likely turn out to be a mindless commentary on why republicans are evil just because and be about as deep as a dry puddle?
Robocop is one movie that REALLY doesn’t need a remake (not that that’s ever stopped Hollywood; of late the land of the imagination-impaired). The first film was great; it was equal parts action movie, black comedy and first rate scathing social satire. ALL of the sequels and subsequent series have all been left in the dust by that damn-near perfect first movie. I honestly doubt a remake will be any better. No reflection on Pine; he is a fine actor, but this movie simply does not need a remake. Any more than 2001, Star Wars, Godfather or JAWS.
I also suspect that if Robocop (2.0) does get made, the finished film will probably STILL beat the next Star Trek movie into theaters… hee hee!
;-P
Since this remake is going to get made anyway (because that’s what they do now), I do hope they retain the satirical tone of the original. When I was younger, I enjoyed Robocop because it had ‘robo’ in the title. Now I enjoy it for the little things—the tongue-in-cheek dialogue, the tongue-in-cheek look at the corporate world, the tongue-in-cheek commercials, and last but not least Kurtwood Smith, who’s most always had his (wait for it)… tongue in cheek.
“I’ll buy that for a dollar!”
Sir Patrick Stewart is 71 today!!!!! HAHA! beat u to it trekmovie.com!!!!
9.15. and 16. Vultan and Will. Right on.
This is so ridiculous. It’s like we are being fed sausages out of leftover Soylent Green. There’s NO WAY a re-boot is going to be anywhere near as interesting as the original.
We live so deeply embedded in a corporate-controlled world that I doubt the original concept would make much sense today. Take away the satire and what do you have? The Tin Woodsman with a big gun.
This is proof positive that MOVIES SUCK. All that matters in Hollywood is easy money. If they could make money by just showing us hypnotizing patterns of flashing lights (and don’t think they haven’t considered this) they would.
Re-boots like this are for a new crop of tweens and teens, who probably don’t remember the original anyway. That’s the only audience that counts. They will reliably show up, buy popcorn and other dreck-food, and when they go home, buy action figures and games based on the dreck-movie. The movie itself is just a giant ad stuffed with product placement for tie-ins and other dreck-products.
As for Chris Pine, fuggetaboudit! After seeing “Unstoppable” I’m already tired of seeing Captain Kirk everywhere.
NO
Sorry, but this is plain stupid. No remake please!
Oh good, another remake. I wish they’d done it sooner. Maybe after this one, they’ll do another every year or so.
These people need to get out and live life and then maybe they would have an original idea.
Naw, then that’s being steeped in too much reality….
#18
Ah, I see you’ve got your “They Live” sunglasses on (and as I’m typing this there’s probably a “They Live” remake in the works).
Anyway, you hit the nail on the head. Sure, writers and directors have always been something on an extension of a studio’s marketing department, trying to judge which themes and actors will attract as many viewers as possible. That’s a given. But when they put on their peg-legs and eye patches and so blatantly “remake” classic films to simply make a profit, throwing away what little creative integrity was left in Hollywood, I have an immediate, uncontrollable reaction to—use that last and most devastating tactic we as viewers have in the almighty producer/consumer relationship—look the other way.
here’s the pros and cons for Pine being Robo..
Pros..
he’s quite thin enough
Cons..
he makes Richard Simmons look like John Wayne
he makes Nicolas Cage look like Dustin Hoffman
José Padilha’s movies here in Brazil are usually very violent (Elite Squad). The original Robocop was quite violent for its time. I wonder how much violence this movie will have. Chris Pine seems an unlikely candidate. I imagine a more daring actor to play the role.
OMG Pine seems to fit in any role…. ^^
@8,
Miguel Ferrer (ST3) and Ray Wise (TNG ‘Who Watches The Watchers’ – good episode!) were also in Robocop.
I agree with Vultan (@ 17) about the original RoboCop. Along with the action and the cool stop motion animation, Paul Verhoeven really was trying to say something about his view of a dystopian Detroit.
Any reboot should again redress the influence of large corporations like OCP in RoboCop in government and their possible immoral behavior by collaborating with criminal elements. Why? Look at the world today. Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World was closed for hacking people’s telephone voice mails. After the financial collapse of 2008, the banks have become even bigger. That’s a worrisome thought for the future.
Ttwo of Verhoeven’s science fiction films had audiences thinkng. RoboCop. And there was also the controversial Starship Troopers. His idea there was to show war makes fascists. Remember the propaganda commercials and Nazi uniforms and symbols in the movie? And the shower scene? Um… sorry, the shower scene had nothing to do with fascism.
You know RoboCop is opne of my all time favourite films and because of that I DON’T want it to be remade because the original was brilliant and can’t be beat. it was a wonderful satire of the media and big corps and a great story of a trying to regain your humanity and therefore the machine being more human than the humans which is great in Sci Fi.
RoboCop is a great character. RoboCop does NOT need a remake. It needs a proper sequel.
RoboCop 2 had some great moments but could have been better and RoboCop 3 was dire.
Why are all the good films being remade these days. Is Hollywood really that lazy and afraid to take risks?
Also out of the actors who have played Robo, Peter Weller is and always will be the best.
Robocop is a perfect movie. It doesn’t need a reboot.
30
Exactly
It should get a proper sequel but NOT a reboot
The future of law enforcement? I don’t think so….
Sleeze TV salesman: “I’ll buy that for a dollar!”
When my Dad was around, he used to say that line all the time. :)
Robocop probably the most endlessly quotable movie of my teens.
“Can you fly, Bobby?”
Shouldn’t be doing a reimagining here either. Recasting to overcome aging original actors? Sure. Continuation? Yep. Remakes, when the original can’t be better. Ugh.
What’s with all of this recycling of screenplays from the 80s???
A decision must have been made in the upper managements of the big movie studios: profits will rise if we cut the writers out of the production cost.
There’s either a shortage of good screenplays these days or the studios just don’t want to have to pay writers. I mean, some of these remakes…Footloose, for example…I just saw a trailer for a remake of Footloose! And who the hell has been sitting around wishing that Robocop, would be remade? Or Total Recall?
Remakes should be outlawed.
@#1: Heck ya.. Buckaroo Bonzai FTW!
My hope is that one day the Star Wars prequels will be obliterated and remade by competent filmmakers. Until then, I disavow their existence.
This post may be a stretch, but I wanted to comment on a personal dream of future remakes.
Also, I agree that this bevy of remakes continues to support the notion that Hollywood is – and has been for some time – out of original ideas. What a shame. Of course a revitalized Star Trek is very welcome. (Hypocrite? Oh well.)
Hollywood seems busy looking to remake every movie that made money 25 years ago, and Robocop has been in development for a while. WonderWoman, anyone? Don’t think I’d be sizing up Mr. Pine for the suit just yet…..
I think RoboCop is a franchise, which should stay dead. Pine can really get better roles.
Yet another movie that does not need to be re-made. And another I will not attend.
I just want to say a couple things:
1.) Remakes in Hollywood are nothing new. Some of the most beloved films of all time, including The Wizard of Oz, and The Maltese Falcon are, wait for it… remakes.
2.) “Remake” does not automatically equal “bad”. As I indicated, The Wizard of Oz is a remake (in addition to the books, there were a few silent film versions made before the film we all remember). The Maltese Falcon is a remake. More recently, we’ve had very good remakes of “True Grit” and our very own beloved “Star Trek”.
If I were an actor with Pine’s talent, I’d say “no” to this. Yeah, there’s some acting opportunities in the story (before he gets shot/later when he’s rediscovering his humanity), but you’re going to spend a big chunk of the film in a robot suit acting like a robot. Far from a fun shoot!
Oh no… No! I am very much against remake of any classic cult movies!
It sounds like Hollywood is running out of ideas for new movies eh?!
– 21. 12YearOldTrekker
It is real cool to see some kid who was born much later than the release of original Robocop movie (1987) to speak out against the remake!
Way to go, kid! :)
I find it funny how people are so against the idea of remaking popular movies when Shakespeare plays have been remade and reinterpreted countless times over the centuries. Why is it that “Hamlet” can be remade but not “Robocop”?
And a lot of Trekkies, when J.J Abrams announced that his movie would be a “reimagining” of “The Original Series”, were up in arms crying heresy. But after the movie, most of those critics were silenced and ended up loving the movie.
Now, there are certain films that need not be remade, such as the original “Star Wars” movies, or “2001: A Space Odyssey” because those are sci-fi/fantasy films that take place in fictional settings, while “Robocop” took place in Detroit in the ’80’s which allows for an update as long as it respectful of the Paul Verhoeven classic.
Chris won’t do this.
Karl Urban could be Robocop.
N-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o!
It seems strange to cast a HANDSOME man as Robocop.. who wears a HELMET for most of the movie) instead of a lesser-known but capable actor. Cast the “catches” as the OTHER characters.
41- You’re right, of course. I think the problem people seem to be having is that it feels like there are a disproportionate amount of remakes to fresh concepts. Balance is the way forward.
45- They remade 2001 as “Mission To Mars” (more or less). And personally, I REALLY would prefer a remake of Star Wars rather than cluttering up the old footage. Those movies are SO played out and I’m SO tired of hearing the same references over and over again, someone new needs to come in and play with all of that.
And regarding Shakespeare, he remade other stories, but after him, no one else really seemed to do “their” versions of those tales. His became the standard.
Isn’t he a bit to “pretty” to borgify?