Forget Groundhog Day – call it Russell Crowe Day. Following the announcement that Darren Aronofsky wants Russell Crowe to play Noah in his upcoming Biblical epic, we’ve got a few more tidbits of news regarding the Academy Award-winning actor.

Variety’s Jeff Sneider tweeted the following last night:

Sure, Russell Crowe, MIGHT star in Aronofsky’s NOAH… but do you know what else he MIGHT star in? Three words: Ro. Bo. Cop. #FloatThisBoat

Again, not a huge confirmation, but something to keep in mind as the movie, set to be directed by Jose Padilha (Elite Squad: The Enemy Within), comes together over the next few months before it starts shooting this summer.

Also, Akiva Goldsman – best known as the writer of the godawful Batman & Robin, but who has also produced things like Mr. and Mrs. Smith and I Am Legend - is set to make his directorial debut on a movie called Winter’s Tale. Vulture says (via The Playlist) that Goldsman’s adaptation of the 1983 novel had previously stalled, but has now gained considerable momentum with the addition of (guess who?) Russell Crowe and Will Smith in supporting roles. The story sounds pretty interesting:

New York City is subsumed in arctic winds, dark nights, and white lights, its life unfolds, for it is an extraordinary hive of the imagination, the greatest house ever built, and nothing exists that can check its vitality. One night in winter, Peter Lake–orphan and master-mechanic, attempts to rob a fortress-like mansion on the Upper West Side.

Though he thinks the house is empty, the daughter of the house is home. Thus begins the love between Peter Lake, a middle-aged Irish burglar, and Beverly Penn, a young girl, who is dying.

Peter Lake, a simple, uneducated man, because of a love that, at first he does not fully understand, is driven to stop time and bring back the dead. His great struggle, in a city ever alight with its own energy and beseiged by unprecedented winters, is one of the most beautiful and extraordinary stories of American literature.

Crowe is in talks to play Pearly Somes, a gangster set on killing the burglar, while Smith would play a judge. So go forth everyone, and Happy Russell Crowe Day.

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According to Heat Vision Gran Torino screenwriter Nick Schenk has been hired by MGM to work on the Robocop remake.

The current plan is to begin shooting in the summer, however MGM have yet to find their leading man. Director Jose Padilha (Elite Squad) said last year that he wanted Michael Fassbender for the role, but Chris Pine was also thought to be in contention at one point.

MGM and Padilha have a month or two before they need to think about casting, depending on the progress of the script. With the character having his face covered for a good section of the movie they’ll need an actor who can act through the helmet, like Peter Weller did in 1987, so getting an actor with the acting chops required should be MGM’s priority.

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Things have been quiet on the RoboCop reboot front since Jose Padilha (Elite Squad) was hired by MGM in March to direct. Screenwriter Josh Zetumer said filming wouldn’t begin until the script was “good enough”, and it must be getting near to that stage as MGM are apparently eyeing a number of actors to lead the film, with one particular actor in mind.

From Twitch:

Does the world want a younger, prettier Robocop? Apparently MGM does as Twitch has learned that the Star Trek actor is the studio’s top choice to take the lead in the upcoming reboot of the scifi franchise. There is no word as to whether director Jose Padilha agrees with the selection and the offer has not yet gone out but we’re told Pine currently tops the MGM casting list.

If this pans out then it will represent a dramatic shift in the character. At the age of 30 Pine is a full decade younger than Peter Weller was when he first took on the role and much more a heart-throb movie star than Weller ever was.

Pine will be busy shooting the Star Trek sequel whenever that gets into gear (likely towards the end of 2011), but he’s got nothing planned for 2012 yet so he could potentially take on the role if he wanted it. With the character having his face covered for a good section of the movie they’ll need an actor who can act through the helmet, like Peter Weller did in 1987, so getting an actor with the acting chops required should be MGM’s priority.

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Brazilian director Jose Padilha was hired by MGM earlier this month to reboot their RoboCop franchise with screenwriter Josh Zetumer. In a recent interview Padilha spoke about working on the film, and says filming will begin once the script is “good enough”.

From Motion TV Online (via SHH):

Q: This is something that can work out really well or… I mean, because there’s a lot of expectations around this, how are your expectations?
Padilha: I have no concerns about it. I only work on movies when it feels right, when I add something of my own way of portraying things. I make movies for myself and I don’t feel nervous, I have no problem with expectations, and if the movie is going to work or not. I just look forward to keep its integrity and directing it the best way I can, all the rest doesn’t concern me.

Q: MGM was looking for a globally appealing director. Why do you think they chose you?
Padilha: I don’t know. I think they saw my movies and felt there was something there that could bring to the present day this controversial, yet different, violent movie which is RoboCop without misrepresenting it.

Q: So when can we expect RoboCop to come out?
Padilha: It’s a project I’m developing from the very beginning together with Josh Zetumer, which is the screenwriter, and there’s no deadline really. When the screenplay turns out good enough, then we will start shooting.

Padilha gained attention from his crime drama Elite Squad and its sequel which came out in 2010. They were Portuguese language films and only had festival and DVD runs in the U.S., but Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within grossed over $60 million in Brazil alone last year, more than Avatar and Alice in Wonderland.

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Earlier this month we heard that MGM were zoning in on Brazilian director Jose Padilha to direct their RoboCop reboot, and now according to Deadline the studio has hired Josh Zetumer to write the script. Both Padilha and Zetumer will work together on the script in order to get it ready for filming.

None of Josh Zetumer’s scripts have been made into movies yet, but he’s been involved with some high-profile projects. His spy thriller script Infiltrator is set-up at Warner Bros. with Leonardo DiCaprio attached, and he also wrote drafts of Dune for Peter Berg before it fell back into development hell. Zetumer also wrote the script for Bourne 4, however Universal decided to reboot the franchise instead after director Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon decided not to return.

The original RoboCop movie hit screens in 1987 with director Paul Verhoeven and took place in a dystopic and crime ridden Detroit, where a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg with submerged memories haunting him. Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky was attached to the reboot last year until MGM hit financial trouble, and now he is busy working on The Wolverine.

With The Hobbit on the verge of filming and Bond 23 in pre-production MGM are hoping to make RoboCop its first major franchise.

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Two weeks ago we heard that MGM were moving forward with their plans for a RoboCop reboot having emerged from bankruptcy. The movie, which previously had Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky in charge, was put on hold last year due to MGM’s financial situation. However with Aronofsky now set to direct The Wolverine MGM have been looking for other potential directors, and they may have found one.

According to Deadline MGM is negotiating with Brazilian director Jose Padilha to direct the film. The original hit screens in 1987 with director Paul Verhoeven and took place in a dystopic and crime ridden Detroit, where a terminally wounded cop returns to the force as a powerful cyborg with submerged memories haunting him.

It is likely Jose Padilha will be starting again from scratch, and won’t be filming Aronofsky script written by David Self (Road to Perdition). Padilha gained attention from his crime drama Elite Squad and its sequel which came out in 2010. They were Portuguese language films and only had festival and DVD runs in the U.S., but Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within grossed over $60 million in Brazil alone last year, more than Avatar and Alice in Wonderland.

With The Hobbit on the verge of filming and Bond 23 in pre-production MGM are hoping to make RoboCop its first major franchise.

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Back in July last year MGM’s RoboCop reboot was officially declared dead as at the time the company was still knee deep in bankruptcy, with no sign of a way out. Since then the company has emerged from bankruptcy with the help of Spyglass Entertainment and is moving forward with The Hobbit and Bond 23.

With their main projects under-way they are starting to look at other movies to develop, and it looks like they are revisiting plans to reboot RoboCop.

From Variety:

The Lion has finally started to really stir, with MGM announcing its first post-bankruptcy co-financing deal Thursday and studio execs telling creative reps that it’s moving on a quintet of projects, including remakes of 1980s pics “Mr. Mom” and “The Idolmaker” and long-gestating reboots of “RoboCop” and “Poltergeist.”

A reboot of “RoboCop.” Pic was being fast-tracked for a 2010 release as the first potential tentpole to come together under Parent’s regime, with director Darren Aronofsky attached at one point. Phoenix Pictures’ Mike Medavoy, who produced the original film for Orion in 1987, was on board as producer alongside Arnold Messer, Brad Fischer and David Thwaites.

Darren Aronofsky will be occupied with The Wolverine for another year, but in November he said he was still interested in directing his version of RoboCop. David Self (Road to Perdition) had written the script, and while no details were released, Self said it was “definitely not a sequel. It’s an origin story, it’s an origin to the original Robocop. So, it’s basically a ‘reboot’.” MGM could wait for Aronofsky and continue to develop Self’s script, or they could start again from scratch with another director and writer.

As well as RoboCop, MGM also plan on proceeding with a new Hercules project — one that sees the mythical hero turning his back on the gods and forming a ruthless army — and a fourth installment to the Poltergeist franchise.

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While The Hobbit has managed to escape MGM’s financial woes and enter pre-production the company’s situation claimed Darren Aronofsky’s Robocop reboot, which was confirmed dead in July.

The director has since signed on to direct The Wolverine and will begin filming next April, but in a recent interview Aronofsky revealed he would still be interested in bringing Robocop back onto the big screen in the future.

From The Playlist:

“Well, ‘RoboCop’ may still happen one day who knows,” he said optimistically. “It’s MGM and hopefully they’ll clear their stuff up and I’m still interested. David Self wrote a great script, but the company went under so…”

Not a lot was known about the movie story-wise, although David Self said it was “definitely not a sequel. It’s an origin story, it’s an origin to the original Robocop. So, it’s basically a ‘reboot’.” Once MGM are debt-free they may decided to revive the project, but it’ll just be a case of waiting to see if that happens, and whether or not Aronofsky will be involved.

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Back in February writer David Self said that he and director Darren Aronofsky were still on-board the Robocop reboot despite MGM’s financial troubles. However we are now nearly 6 months on and while The Hobbit and Bond 23 are holding out until things can be resolved, Robocop won’t be.

The Financial Times are reporting that Aronofsky has officially left the project, and Moviehole caught up with one of their sources at Comic-Con who said the movie is “Gone. Kaput. Canceled” and Aronofsky “lost interest”, which is understandable.

Not a lot was known about the movie story-wise, although David Self said it was “definitely not a sequel. It’s an origin story, it’s an origin to the original Robocop. So, it’s basically a ‘reboot’.” Once MGM are debt-free they may decided to start working on another Robocop project (they will still be wanting to put the rights into use) but this incarnation that has been in development for the last few years appears to be dead.

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Last month we heard rumblings that Darren Aronofsky’s Robocop reboot was on hold because he and MGM were having a disagreement as to whether to shoot the film in 3D or not. There is also the issue of MGM having to sorting out their finances, and possibly being bought by another studio. Either way it doesn’t look as though there will be much movement on Robocop until those problems are resolves, however writer David Self recently spoke to STYD and said that Aronofsky is still onboard.

“I’m still involved with it and Darren Aronofsky’s still involved with it,” says Self. “He’s making another movie right now (Black Swan), but we’re waiting for MGM, to sort things out since they’re a large corporation and it’s a situation where we have to be practical. We’re waiting to continue with them, we hope that that happens soon and we can get back to it soon.”

When asked if they were approaching the new Robocop as an unofficial sequel or a remake, Self explained, “It’s definitely not a sequel. It’s an origin story, it’s an origin to the original Robocop. So, it’s basically a ‘reboot’.”

It’s unlikely Robocop will be released next year, unless they can work things out and start filming by the end of the year. Still, it’s good to know Darren Aronofsky is still directing. He’s been working on it for years, so it would be a shame for his efforts to go to waste.

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