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10-02-2009, 08:47 PM
Wolverine is poised to enter the world of fighting robots.
Variety reports that Hugh Jackman is being lined up to star in the "Rocky-with-robots saga" Real Steel. Shawn Levy (Night At the Museum) will direct for DreamWorks and Angry Films' Don Murphy and Susan Montford. Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis are among the exec producers.
The script, which is based on the 1956 short story Steel by Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, The Box), was written by Dan Gilroy and rewritten by Les Bohem and John Gatins. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jeremy Leven also penned a draft.
The trade says Real Steel will see Jackman "play an ex-fighter who becomes a promoter when human boxing is outlawed for being too violent. The new gladiators are 2000-pound robots with human qualities. The ex-fighter's access to sub-standard robot parts hampers his hopes for glory in Robot Boxing, until he discovers a discarded robot that always seems to win. The ex-fighter has also discovered he's the father of a 13-year old son, and they bond as the robot brawls its way toward the top."
Matheson's short story Steel was previously produced as a fifth season episode of The Twilight Zone in 1963, with Lee Marvin in the role Jackman will play.
The studio reportedly hopes to start filming by next summer.
Variety reports that Hugh Jackman is being lined up to star in the "Rocky-with-robots saga" Real Steel. Shawn Levy (Night At the Museum) will direct for DreamWorks and Angry Films' Don Murphy and Susan Montford. Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis are among the exec producers.
The script, which is based on the 1956 short story Steel by Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, The Box), was written by Dan Gilroy and rewritten by Les Bohem and John Gatins. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jeremy Leven also penned a draft.
The trade says Real Steel will see Jackman "play an ex-fighter who becomes a promoter when human boxing is outlawed for being too violent. The new gladiators are 2000-pound robots with human qualities. The ex-fighter's access to sub-standard robot parts hampers his hopes for glory in Robot Boxing, until he discovers a discarded robot that always seems to win. The ex-fighter has also discovered he's the father of a 13-year old son, and they bond as the robot brawls its way toward the top."
Matheson's short story Steel was previously produced as a fifth season episode of The Twilight Zone in 1963, with Lee Marvin in the role Jackman will play.
The studio reportedly hopes to start filming by next summer.