You read that right. Hugh Jackman is about to gear up for his Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots movie.
Production Weekly just Tweeted that filming on Shawn Levy’s
Real Steel will kick off in June in Michigan.
Jackman can actually tuck in the Wolverine blades and bulk down because this role, which won't require much physical training at all. He's set to play an ex-boxer named Charlie. His retirement is probably nothing unusual because Charlie lives in a future world where boxing is considered too dangerous for humans and left to one-ton robots. Charlie finds a rickety old bot and decides to make him (or her?) a champion. The raw human emotion comes in the form of an 11-year-old boy who turns up that happens to be Charlie’s son.
Minus the images of Jackman sweating over a plastic, childhood game, the concept has potential. The thing that keeps most from taking the project seriously is that tacky title. I’d like to bet that changes before the film’s November 18th, 2011 release date. With Steven Speilberg executive producing alongside Robert Zemeckis, it’s hard to imagine
Real Steel being a real loser.