Michael Keaton to Replace Hugh Laurie in ‘Robocop’

Today, Cinemablend broke the news that Michael Keaton has officially replaced Hugh Laurie as the evil Omnicorp CEO in the upcoming Robocop reboot. Just a few days ago, it was reported that Laurie decided to back out of the Jose Padilha-directed project, and it seems like MGM may have had Keaton on deck, considering how quickly they pulled him in.Personally, I think this is a great choice, as anything that could bring Michael Keaton back into the main-stream, I’m all for.  Here’s hoping that the role will give him another opportunity to show he’s still an incredible talent.

When commenting on the addition of Keaton, director Jose Padilha stated, “Michael is the final addition to the amazing cast we have assembled for this film and it is so great to have the last puzzle piece in place. It is thrilling that everything has come together to bring this innovative new vision of RoboCop to life. We’ve got a great script, a great cast, some killer ED-209’s and I can’t wait to get Alex Murphy back on the streets.”

Shooting is set to begin this fall, and is set for an August 9, 2013 release. Do you think Keaton will play a good villain role?  Comment below.