Joel Kinnaman says new RoboCop film will not rehash the original

Joel Kinnaman has been talking to SFX about what we can expect from the new RoboCop , and is quick to stress that the film is more than just a retread of the original adventure.

“When I first heard there was gonna be a RoboCop remake, I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll see that somewhere down the line, but it’s nothing I’m interested in pursuing myself,’” explains Kinnaman, candidly.

“Then when I heard it was José Padilha that was gonna direct it, I became very interested. José has fought very hard and succeeded in making something that has a point of view, and a political and philosophical perspective.”

And as for the film’s relationship with the original, Kinnaman says it will contain respectful nods rather than wholesale plagiarism...

“It’s a great responsibility,” says the actor. “Especially in a world where there’s a lot of remakes being made for cynical economic reasons. But having José as a director washed away those fears.

“The biggest respect you can pay to the original is to acknowledge it as a very intelligent movie, and try to make something intelligent to follow it up with, and not just replay old catchphrases. We kept one or two as a wink to the fans, but we did not try to remake the movie.”

RoboCop will open in the UK on 7 February 2014.

George Wales

George was once GamesRadar's resident movie news person, based out of London. He understands that all men must die, but he'd rather not think about it. But now he's working at Stylist Magazine.