He won over audiences across the US with his perpetual stubble and steely gaze in House M.D., but 53-year-old actor Hugh Laurie‘s next big role will be the substantially less loveable arch-villain of Jose Padilha’s upcoming Robocop remake.
The character, Dick Jones, was the head of Omni Corp, the company that financed the creation of Peter Weller’s cyborg form for its own, capital gains – because apparently the corporations of the future are still as greedy as they are today – but through robotic means. Sci-fi, everyone! However, Jones is perhaps most well-remembered for ordering around his henchman, who just so happened to be a murderous robot. Let’s hope that Laurie can turn a few screws and have it voiced by Stephen Fry.
As I mentioned in a previous article, the casting of Gary Oldman and Joel Kinnaman make for promising choices, and the addition of Hugh Laurie will only grant the project even more attention (if only because the public want to see what accent he’ll go with). Surely this could only be better if Samuel L. Jackson was involved. Oh, he’s playing some form of media mogul? Carry on then.
What are your thoughts on the casting so far? Personally, I’m intrigued, but also hoping this isn’t a part of Hollywood’s pervasive mindset of “quick, we need a villain! Grab the nearest, most famous British man!”
Production begins this summer, reportedly under the wing of a script penned by Quantum of Solace‘s Josh Zetumer.
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