José Padilha Wants Michael Fassbender As Robocop

I thought this project was on the shelf when Aronofsy left it but now there is talk of shooting in the fitst quarter of 2012 and if they can get Fassbender on board in the lead role this could be something cool.

Bleeding Cool got the scoop.

Michael Fassbender is truly the man of the moment, attacking ambitious pictures of all genres, from Shame to Prometheus, X-Men: First Class to The Dangerous Method. And he’s consistently good in these movies too, making smart choices and bringing more than his sheer charisma to the screen.

So, really, it’s no surprise at all that Robocop reboot director José Padilha wants Fassbender to take a look at the lead role. He’d be mad not to.

Appearing on Brazillian TV channel Globo 1 to discuss the selection of his film Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within as the country’s official nomination for Oscar consideration, Padhila also talked a little about his Robocop plans.

A team of Little Bleeders tell us that Padilha said something like this:

I’ll film Robocop. I’m indeed writing the script, the writer is here with me in Rio, we’ve spent over the last 15 days working together, refining the script.

I’ll be travelling this friday back to LA, bringing this new version to discuss with the studio, and maybe begin with the casting, selecting actors… and the idea is to begin filming in February – February or March. That’s the idea, y’know, we never know in the american movie industry. We’re just delivering the project, but also we depend on the schedule of the actors… it’s tough.

I can’t talk yet, it’s too early to speak, but there are some actors I like. I really like the Fassbender, I’d like to talk to him — I’ll talk to him. There’s a possibility… and there’s a lot of other great actors that would play Robocop. But that’s the idea, to film around January, February, March.

Padilha also confirmed that the film would be set in Detroit, as in Paul Verhoeven’s original.