"Real Steel" Robot Boxing at a Cinema This Autumn
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
October 2011 will see the release of DreamWorks movie "Real Steel" starring Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), Evangeline Lilly (LOST) and Kevin Durand (Robin Hood). Set in a future not too distant from now, 8 foot tall steel robots have taken over from human boxers in high velocity boxing matches to the death. Charlie Kenton (Hugh Jackman) once could have been the world number one boxing champion, but is now only a small time boxing promoter. Fight scrap metal robots in street fight, he is barely making enough cash to get by. When Max, Charlie's estranged son, arrives, Father and Son get together an cruise the boxing circuit. One night, in a robot junk yard, Max find a discarded old robot and is determined to see him fight. Charlie is eventually persuaded, and Atom, the robot, fights for his life.
"Real Steel" is based on the Richard Matheson short book "Steel" but was transformed into a movie screenplay by Dan Gilroy. DreamWorks first became interested in the film in 2003, when they bought the screenplay for a reported $850,000.
When the Paramount DreamWorks relationship split in 2008, "Real Steel" was retained by DreamWorks and was finally greenlit by Spielberg, who is also executive producer on the movie. Shawn Levy was confirmed as director in his first foray into serious movie making as Levy is better known for his "Night at the Museum" franchise as well as the more recent movie "Date Night". Supported by Stephen Spielberg, Levy seems to have produced an interesting and exciting movie, for what we can see from the trailer.
The original screenplay was altered slightly by writers Les Bohem and John Gatins to widen the appeal to the audience, changing the focus on the plot away from robot boxing specifically and emphasising the importance of the Father Son relationship between Charlie and Max. The setting was also changed from the harder city atmosphere to state fairs and traditional Americana, most of the movie was filmed in the areas around Michigan and Detroit.
The film makers also commissioned the creation of 19 fully functioning anamatronic robots for the human and robot scenes to improve the authenticity of the robots, as well as improving the realism of the acting.
The white knuckle ride of "Real Steel" is released in UK cinemas on 7th October 2011.
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