Is filming the Robocop remake “hell” for director Jose Padilha?

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

The reboot of ROBOCOP is set to go before cameras next month, but that may not be the most exciting news for the film’s director, Jose Padilha (ELITE SQUAD) who is apparently having a “hell” of a time dealing with the Hollywood studio system according to his friend, filmmaker Fernando Meirelles (CITY OF GOD).  In an interview with Cinemacon Rapadura, the director revealed that some phone conversations with Padilha have revealed a troubled filmmaker trapped in the bubble of “the system.”:

“I talked to José Padilha for a week by phone. He will begin filming Robocop. He is saying that it is the worst experience. For every 10 ideas he has, 9 are cut. Whatever he wants, he has to fight. “This is hell here,” he told me. “The film will be good, but I never suffered so much and do not want to do it again.” He is bitter, but it’s a fighter,” said Meirelles.

Obviously, this has got the “telephone effect” written all over it, but I’m sure there’s some nuggets of truth in there.  With Padilha tackling his first American feature in the studio system you’d have to expect that he’d toil with it.  Hollywood can be VERY hands on, with the strong arm of executives pushind and pulling a film in multiple directions that may or may not align with the director’s creative vision.  Imagine that, eh?

The film has already got its work cut out in terms of appealing to a broader audience, seeing as it’s a remake of an exceptional classic by Paul Verhoeven, the script reviews have been less than stellar, and casting issues so close to the start of filming (Hugh Laurie’s departure as the villain), which can be problematic.  Not to mention that the last remake of a Verhoeven classic hit dudsville with barely a whimper at the box office (ahem, TOTAL RECALL). 

Hopefully, Padilha is able to pull it together and find a way to work within the system or it may be another case of waste, because let’s face it, we don’t NEED a ROBOCOP remake.  Padilha would probably be better suited to direct a smaller film for his initial entry into Hollywood, but the train is on the tracks now. 

ROBOCOP stars Joel Kinneman, Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson, Jay Baruchel, Abbie Cornish, and Jackie Earle Haley with an eye towards release on August 9, 2013.