Samuel L. Jackson Joins Oldboy

Director Spike Lee's planned remake of the Korean revenge thriller Oldboy has added two big names to its roster of talent.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Avengers star Samuel L. Jackson -- who appeared in Lee's School Daze, Do the Right Thing, Mo' Better Blues,  and Jungle Fever -- is reuniting with the helmer for Oldboy.

"Jackson has come on board for a small but critical part in the new film, according to a person close to the production who was not authorized to talk about it publicly. The actor will play the man who is being tortured by the hero (Brolin) in a key revenge scene," said the paper, which added that the remake won't use the tooth extraction method of torture employed in the original film.

Meanwhile, musician Bruce Hornsby -- who has scored Lee's documentary Kobe Doin' Work and the upcoming drama Red Hook Summer -- will score Oldboy, with the composer saying Lee has advised him to come up with some darker tones for the music in this film.

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Robocop Now a Terrorist-Killing Transformer

I bet you were beginning to get psyched for that Robocop remake, huh? What with all the cool actors being lined up for it -- Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson, Hugh Laurie, Jackie Earle Haley, Jay Baruchel, Michael Kenneth Williams and Abbie Cornish -- and it being from the director of Elite Squad. Well, according to one respected film journalist who has read the script it's time to lower your expectations.

Latino-Review points out a blistering series of tweets from HitFix's Drew McWeeny who read the script for the reboot, which starts filming this fall for a 2013 release. Here are a few particularly caustic revelations about the script so be advised of SPOILERS:

"In the film, when Murphy is turned into Robocop 1.0, it’s described 'a high-tech version of the ’80s suit.' Then they show a focus group scene where criminals laugh at the design. 'He looks like a toy from the ’80s!' So they redesign him to look 'meaner' as Robocop 2.0, who passes focus group approval. So they not only make sure to include the original design, they also point out it’s dated and stupid. *facepalm*"

"Oh, god… oh dear god… Robocop is a Transformer. He goes from 'social mode' to 'combat mode' and back. Full transformation."

Robocop is dropped into an Al-Qaeda training camp at one point to see what he can do, while the ED-209s are deployed to Iran to stop suicide bombers.

There are a few pretty lousy-sounding winks to lines from the original Paul Verhoeven film (and even to its poster). There are also said to be several different versions of the RoboCop suit used through the film.

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The Wire Star in Robocop Negotiations

The Wire and Boardwalk Empire actor Michael Kenneth Williams is apparently in negotiations to star in Sony and MGM's remake of Robocop.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor - currently playing racketeer Chalky White on Boardwalk Empire - is in talks to appear as Joel Kinnamen's cop partner.

The movie is due to begin filming in Toronto this September, with Kinnamen as the titular cop, Hugh Laurie as the villain, and Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, Abbie Cornish, Jay Baruchel and Jackie Earle Haley also starring.

Brazilian Jose Padilha - who previously helmed the brilliant Elite Squad - is directing the film, which will hit screens in 2013.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

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Dark Knight Rises Tops Box Office for Third Week

The remake of Total Recall wasn't powerful enough to wipe the memory of The Dark Knight Rises from audiences' minds. Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy capper topped the domestic weekend box office for the third straight weekend.

The Dark Knight Rises' current domestic total is $354.6 million. It's made almost $25 million more overseas so far to bring its current worldwide cume to $733 million.

Here are the weekend estimates via Rentrak:

1. The Dark Knight Rises $36.4 million

2. Total Recall $26 million

3. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days $14.7 million

4. Ice Age: Continental Drift $8.4 million

5. The Watch $6.4 million

6. Ted $5.5 million

7. Step Up Revolution $5.3 million

8. The Amazing Spider-Man $4.3 million

9. Brave $2.9 million

10. Magic Mike $1.4 million

Check out last week's Keepin' It Reel podcast to see how we fared with our box office predictions!

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