Looking ahead to 2014, I’m not sure any film has the attention of the UTG staff quite like the upcoming remake of Robocop. It’s partially due to the fact we have a lot of fans of the original on board, but also because we believe Joel Kinnaman could be Hollywood’s next great leading man. The Comic-Con panel took place just last night, and this morning a slew of new details have begun surfacing online.

Following a rough cut of the film’s first trailer, which you can read a description of on /Film, director José Padilha and a number of cast members took the stage to discuss his new movie. When asked about the film’s rating, Padilha explained, “We were shooting the movie to be seen by the broadest possible audience, which means PG-13. This whole idea about ‘RoboCop’ has to be “R” because the first one was amazingly violent… I never really bought into that. You know, ‘The Dark Knight’ was PG-13, so you can get away with a lot.”

Samuel L. Jackson followed this comment, adding ” “It would be “R” for its time, not “R” now. Padilha agreed, “Yeah, maybe now it isn’t.”

While I would hate to disagree with the legendary Sam Jackson, I think he and Padilha are both wrong to assume the 1987 version of Robocop would be any less than an “R.” There is a bloody neck stabbing, a rapist shot in the groin, and of course the ultra-violent opening scene death of the protagonist, Alex Murphy.

Not exactly the stuff PG-13 is made of, huh?

So how will the new Robocop cover all this while sticking to a PG-13? We’re not sure, but one major reveal from the footage and panel may offer some insight. According to multiple sources, the new Alex Murphy (played by Joel Kinnaman) will no longer be murder in the opening moments of the film. Instead, he will be severely injured, leaving him with what we assume is little-to-no options but to become OCP Crime Prevention Unit 001.

It’s unclear how many additional changes from the original story will appear in the upcoming remake, but given the new suit, setup, and rating I think it’s safe to assume this Robocop will be unlike anything we’ve seen before. Whether or not that is a good thing, however, has yet to be determined. Comment below and let us know your thoughts on the upcoming Robocop remake.

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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