The role was originally played by Peter Weller in RoboCop and its first sequel, with Robert John Burke taking over in RoboCop 3.  The remake's casting was the subject of much speculation before Kinnaman was offered the part last month.  The Swedish-born actor broke out for American audiences with his role on AMC's The Killing, and he recently reunited with his Snabba Cash director Daniel Espinosa for the hit Safe House.  He also played a supporting role in David Fincher's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

IAR was lucky enough to sit in on a roundtable interview with Kinnaman during the promotional effort for season two of The Killing, during which the actor enthusiastically discussed the RoboCop remake.

Jose Padilha, the director behind Elite Squad and its sequel, both of which were massive hits in his native Brazil, is making his American debut with the remake, and his new leading man had nothing but praise, saying, "I start shooting that in August. With RoboCop I couldn’t be happier because it has such a quality director. He’s a young master. So he’s a smart man and he’s going to do a very smart movie. If you’ve seen his past movies you know he can portray action."

Kinnaman also voiced his affection Verhoeven's uniquely audacious tone and how the new film will differ.  "I’m such a huge fan of the original," he said. "I think I’ve seen the first RoboCop like fifteen or twenty times. I’m like a kid that way. I love all of [Paul] Verhoeven’s movies. He has a very special tone. I love Starship Troopers too. I think he really could portray fascism in a comedic way. It’s also funny because both Jose and Verhoeven were accused of being fascists for their movies because they had fascist leads. They’re likable yes, but their political stance is completely wrong. So it's not going to have his tone but there is going to be political satire in it."

Fans worried that the new RoboCop will avoid the over-the-top action of the first film, from which Verhoeven had to trim violence after the MPAA originally branded it with an X-rating, can rely on Kinnaman to assuage their fears.  Or at least to know that the actor shares their views, as he said, "I sincerely hope they are going for R because I can’t believe how RoboCop could be PG-13. That would be a huge mistake. If I have any say in it I will fight very hard for an R, because it has to be violent."

So now we know that production on the new RoboCop begins in August, and that its leading man is down for an R rating.  Shortly after being hired to direct last year, Jose Padilha teamed with writer Josh Zetumer to work on the screenplay, but more recently, Gran Torino writer Nick Shenk came aboard the project to carry out rewrites.