Sci-Fi Film and Television Developments

Real Steel

6/15/10 – USA Today released an image from Real Steel.  The movie, directed by Shawn Levy, imagines a world in which human boxing is non-existent, replaced by leagues of mechanized pugilists. It's expected to arrive in theaters in November 2011.  "The moment of walking in and seeing these robots, my jaw was on the floor," Jackman said Monday. That's because the robot in this image is a real device, not a digital visual effect.  Motion-capture animation is used in the film when the machines are brawling (with boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard working as an adviser on those), but 19 real-life animatronic giants were created for scenes with the human actors.  “There are some things only visual effects can pull off," Levy says. "But when you give an actor a real thing, in this case a real 8-foot-tall machine, to interact with and do dialogue opposite, you get a more grounded reality to the performance."  The story, set in 2020, features Jackman as an out-of-work fighter who bonds with his estranged son when they go to work rescuing a junkyard find named Atom, and grooming it as a potential champion in the World Robot Boxing league.  "The heart of the story is this father and son relationship and in comes this junkyard robot called Atom that the kid's in love with," Jackman says. "I abandoned the kid pretty much at birth. But we come together because the boy's mother has died. We have a lot of distance to make up. It's through this mutual interest in robot boxing that they find a way to come together and form a bond."  Unlike Transformers or I, Robot, these machines aren't sentient and are controlled by their "corner men," like Jackman and the boy (10-year-old Dakota Goyo) — though Atom seems to have flashes of intelligence and understanding beyond his metallic brethren.  While the story is based around sci-fi (inspired by a short story by I Am Legend author Richard Matheson), Levy says he also wanted it to seem more "old fashioned," and roots the movie in state fairs and more nostalgic, Americana settings rather than a cold, futuristic dystopia.

5/12/10 - Evangeline Lilly signed on to co-star in the robot boxing movie Real Steel opposite Hugh Jackman, Variety reported; she also joins Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker) in the movie and will play a friend of Jackman's character.

3/15/10 - According to The Hollywood Reporter, 11-year-old Canadian actor Dakota Goyo will join Hugh Jackman in Real Steel.  The sci-fi movie is based on a story by Richard Matheson that director Shawn Levy has described as "a father/son action drama set in the near future, surrounding the sport of robot boxing." In a world where robot boxing has replaced the human version, a former boxer gets a shot at redemption when he teams up with his long-lost son to train an unusual robot for a shot at the championships.  Production on Real Steel will begin in June, with Disney set to release the film on Nov. 18, 2011.

1/21/10 - According to Production Weekly, filming begins June in Michigan on Real Steel starring Hugh Jackman as Charlie, a downcast former boxer-turned-trainer of boxing robots. Shawn Levy will be behind the camera. The movie is based on a short story by legendary sci-fi author Richard Matheson. In a world where robot boxing has replaced the human version, Jackman would play a Rocky-esque character looking for one last shot. "Hugh Jackman plays a former boxer who can therefore no longer do the only thing he was ever good at and has to make his way in this new world," Levy said. "It's faithful to the story in that that story was very much about a down-on-his-luck, slightly desperate journeyman who works in this robot boxing sport and who is desperately needing redemption and one last shot. The movie is more Rocky than Transformers."

12/11/09 - Touchstone Pictures has set DreamWork's Real Steel to hit movie theaters on Nov. 18, 2011, marking the newly independent studio's first release under its output deal with Disney. The Shawn Levy-helmed film will star Hugh Jackman as a former boxer grabbing one last chance at stardom in the ring by teaming with his long-lost son to train a robot for the Real Steel World Championship.  Directed by Shawn Levy, Real Steel is being produced by Levy, Don Murphy and Susan Montford. DreamWorks co-topper Steven Spielberg figures among the pic's exec producers.

11/12/09 – SCI FI Wire reported that director Shawn Levy confirmed Hugh Jackman is a front-runner to star in Real Steel, a sci-fi movie based on a story by Richard Matheson, which Levy describes as "a father/son action drama set in the near future, surrounding the sport of robot boxing."  In a world where robot boxing has replaced the human version, Jackman would play a Rocky-esque character looking for one last shot. "Hugh Jackman plays a former boxer who can therefore no longer do the only thing he was ever good at and has to make his way in this new world," Levy said. "It's faithful to the story in that that story was very much about a down-on-his-luck, slightly desperate journeyman who works in this robot boxing sport and who is desperately needing redemption and one last shot. The movie is more Rocky than Transformers."  Levy has not cast the main character's son yet but has a good idea about the robots. "They are most definitely not Transformers, not Terminators, definitely not WALL-Es, either," Levy said. "Unlike a lot of these others, these are human-built, human-scale fighting machines. They are built for human spectacle. People in this movie have gotten bored with human carnage and human violence. So in the quest for more, more, more, this sport has evolved to this."  Real Steel is due in 2011.

10/2/09 - Hugh Jackman is in talks to star in the Shawn Levy-directed fighting-robot movie Real Steel for DreamWorks, Variety reported; Jackman would play an ex-fighter who has to reinvent himself when human boxers are replaced by robots.

9/16/09 - Shawn Levy is set to direct Real Steel, a DreamWorks film about a father and son who take a robot to the Bot Boxing Championship, Variety reported.  The film is set in the near future, where combatants control human-like 2,000-pound robots that battle in the ring. John Gatins turned in the most recent script draft.  Levy is expected to direct the film next year.

11/14/08 - DreamWorks is putting a handful of projects on its high-priority list, including several SF&F movies, Variety reported.  While there are many deals still to be negotiated and many green lights yet to be handed out, the studio is expected to move quickly as it builds its Reliance-funded and Universal-distributed slate. Some movies could even go into production well ahead of DreamWorks' original fall '09 target.

Among the projects:
--Cowboys and Aliens: The large-scale comic-book adaptation is now being penned by writer-executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Star Trek, TV's Fringe), who took on the gig from Iron Man co-writers Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby. Imagine is producing, and director-producer Ron Howard, who remains a long shot to shoot the film, is developing the project for attached star Robert Downey Jr.

--Real Steel: A futuristic boxing movie being penned by Dante's Peak writer Les Bohem, who created and wrote the Steven Spielberg-executive-produced SCI FI Channel miniseries Taken.

--The 39 Clues: The project is a potential Spielberg directing vehicle, though it's still in script phase, with Jeff Nathanson only recently hired to adapt the first novel, The Maze of Bones, in the 10-book Clues series.

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