THR has revealed that acting vet Gary Oldman will be starring in the upcoming RoboCop remake, currently set to feature Joel Kinnaman in the role made famous by Peter Weller. Oldman will play a scientist named Norton — the brains behind RoboCop’s construction. He apparently struggles with his invention in the aftermath, finding himself “torn between the ideals of the machine trying to rediscover its humanity and the callous needs of a corporation.” As you’ll recall, RoboCop was born from a murder victim who happened to be a former police officer. Jose Padilha directs the retelling, which doesn’t have a start date yet — however the crew hopes to wrap things up by summer, 2013.
In recent years, Oldman’s been adept at playing the heroic everyman — as seen in Christopher Nolan’s Batman series, for example — but we really miss the unhinged Oldman from his early days. While we’re disappointed to find out the actor won’t be playing RoboCop’s crime boss (originally played by Kurtwood Smith) or one of the other baddies, we hope his scientist ends up having some kind of crazed moral freakout or Dr. Frankenstein-esque breakdown. Is that too weird?