Chris Pine played an impressive young Captain James T. Kirk in J. J. Abrams‘ Star Trek, the successful prequel/reboot of that venerable franchise. He made Kirk cool again, and now MGM is looking for the same rejuvenation for their sci-fi reboot of Robocop. According to Twitch, Pine is at the top of MGM’s casting list, though no official offer has been made.
The Robocop franchise defined an era. It’s considered a seminal ’80s sci fi, and like many other sci-fis from the ’80s, it has spawned a number of crummy sequels. The original Robocop, directed by controversial director Paul Verhoeven, was a gritty cop drama with a sci-fi twist. A Detroit officer, played by Peter Weller, gets terminally wounded on duty and is put back together beneath a robotic shell and called Robocop. Then he kicks ass.
The MGM reboot is gathering steam, with Jose Padilha set to direct. No doubt MGM wants the same kind of reception and success that the 2009 Star Trek was met with, and what better way to capture that success then to hire Pine to play Robocop? Nothing like a modernization to attract new audiences, and perhaps filmmakers involved think casting a younger more attractive Robocop than Weller was in the original will appeal to a wider demographic (girls).
As a girl, I have to say I’m all for Pine being cast as Robocop. And it’s not because he’s a stud. I hate to tell the Robocop producers that girls won’t go see hard sci-fi unless they are already fans of hard sci-fi. Even Pine’s good looks can’t work that kind of magic. What he can do is bring the same charisma and acting talent to the role of Robocop that he displayed as Captain Kirk, and thus give the Robocop reboot a chance to succeed.
