Even with all the news of Marvel and Disney today (don’t worry, Chris and Joe will talk all about it in the podcast this week), we can’t forget other things dropping today. One of these things is a brand new trailer for Robocop from Sony.

The reboot, directed by Jose Padilha, stars The Killing‘s Joel Kinnaman as the detective-turned-crime-fighting cyborg. Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, Abbie Cornish and Jay Baruchel co-star.

Look for it to arrive on February 12, 2014. Uh oh, February. Let’s hope that release date doesn’t mean what we think it could mean.

Anyway, check out the trailer after the break.

It hardly seems like a month can pass by without some sort of out of left field news popping up regarding the upcoming RoboCop reboot. This is a remake that should be easy to file away as a bad idea, the original worked despite it’s premise because of Verhoeven and everything else in the franchise after that has been a miss on one level or another.

That doesn’t mean they aren’t at least trying to give us an enjoyable film next year, and today’s casting shuffle news seems to indicate that at least some one really cares about this project. Secret British badass Hugh Laurie was in line to play the CEO of OmniCorp until he wasn’t, so the film replaces Dr. House with a damn Batman, Variety reports:

Michael Keaton has been tapped to play the villain, Raymond Sellars, in the “RoboCop” reboot for MGM and Sony… The Sellars character is the CEO of the corporation that builds RoboCop, played by Joel Kinnaman. The film, described as a “reimagining” of the 1987 Paul Verhoeven pic, is scheduled to begin shooting next month.

As much as Hugh Laurie was an exciting choice for the role originally, Keaton is easily ten times more intriguing. He has a manic energy that can really bring something fun to the head of the ever-present OmniCorp. You can even gauge from the actors connected to the role that the character is not meant to be a two-dimensional prick, but perhaps a character with some interesting perspective.

This film once again has us nodding our head in approval at the choices it has made in pre-production, let us hope that good mojo translates to the production phase that is set to begin soon.

It was hard to get behind the RoboCop reboot, it was passed around between a few good creative people and eventually landed in the hands of Jose Padilha who is a relatively unknown entity here in the states. However, once the ball started rolling with the cast the project has been gaining momentum.

We already told you about a few nice cast additions last week, which brings the supporting cast up to Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson and Abbie Cornish who join the solid Joel Kinnaman in the film. Already we have a solid cast with some geek cred and plenty of acting chops.

Things get much better though, The Hollywood Reporter has announced who will play one of the key villain roles in the movie:

Hugh Laurie is in negotiations to play the villain in Robocop, MGM and Sony’s remake of the classic 1987 sci-fi action movie… Laurie will play the evil and ultra-rich CEO of Omnicorp, the company that makes Robocop

Dr. House himself! Hugh Laurie is a fantastic actor and will really bring a lot to the table as a swarmy CEO who looks to use RoboCop for his own nefarious reasons. One other aspect of bringing in Laurie to the cast that evokes a lot of excitement is that this news might be another clue that the satirical nature of the original is not going to be left by the wayside.

The impending RoboCop remake is in an odd place. It is the perfect kind of pulpy, popular franchise that should be remade, but the original holds such a specific and dear place in the hearts of fans that it is up against a lot of fan distrust.

One way they can help assuage fan worries is to cast the film well. That is well underway as recently the movie has added the always game Samuel L. Jackson to play a prominent TV figure in the film. Those familiar with the original RoboCop know that Paul Verhoven used TV as a great source of satire that helped give the film it’s edge.

Bringing in a man like Sam Jackson for a role like that seems to infer that this new film might not stray that far from one of the originals most iconic aspects. Jackson also joins previously cast Gary Oldman has the geek cred for the film, as both have been very good in numerous geek level properties.

In addition to the Jackson casting, Deadline is also reporting that the female lead has been found, Abbie Cornish. The lovely Ms. Cornish is playing RoboCop’s wife, who believes herself to be a widow once Murphy gets all robo-fied. This could be a very interesting direction the film can take, as Murphy’s wife had been little more than window dressing in the first film. By describing the character as a female lead it is clear we will see much more of that awkward relationship status. It’s complicated indeed.

Stay tuned for more updates on this every increasingly interesting remake here on The Flickcast.

There is a troubling trend brewing in the wake of the current influx of modern reboots. That trend is the incessant and entirely predictable whining about every detail that is released.

Today brings a brand new detail for the internet to get up in arms about. We will be able to see into Robocop‘s eyes through his visor.

This detail was unveiled at MTV by Joel Kinnaman the star of the upcoming remake:

RoboCop is going to be a lot more human… The first movie is one of my favorite movies. I love it. Of course, Verhoeven has that very special tone, and it’s not going to have that tone. It’s a re-imagination of it. There’s a lot of stuff from the original. There are some details and throwbacks, but this version is a much better acting piece, for Alex Murphy and especially when he is RoboCop. It’s much more challenging. 

It’s not going to be jaw action. They’re still working on the suit and how it’s going to look, but the visor is going to be see-through,” he said. “You’re going to see his eyes.

I appreciate that they understand the Verhoeven tone and are not trying to recapture it, instead use the cornerstones of the original and make something new. As for the see through visor, that is more up in the air. It could make RoboCop much more relatable, or it could be like Snake Eye’s mouth in GI Joe, unnessecarry and distracting.