It has been confirmed that Hugh Jackman has been tapped for the Dreamworks production of “Real Steel”, a film based on the Richard Matheson (The Button) story about an ex-fighter that turns to the sport of robot on robot gladiatorial combat to make ends meet. Since he’s poor and can’t afford decent buzzsaws and giant pincers, he must turn to the scrapheap where he magically finds a droid that has the pluck to win!
The original Richard Matheson story was turned into a Twilight Zone episode so it can’t be as Disney as it sounds. Apparently, the budget for this movie is only 80 million. Speculation abounds that you just can’t make a Sci-Fi movie these days for such a ridiculous pittance. Leslie Bohem (Taken) and John Gatins (Summer Catch, Dreamer) rewrote the script based on the original by Dan Gilroy (who was paid 850,000!) Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum series, Cheaper By The Dozen, The Pink Panther, Just Married, and Big Fat Liar) will direct. Thanks Cinematical for the scoop.
