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Joel Kinnaman cast as the new ‘RoboCop’

MGM has found its RoboCop. And he's Swedish, no less.

Swedish-American actor Joel Kinnaman, whom North American audiences will likely recognize as Detective Stephen Holder from the AMC series "The Killing," hit Hollywood's radar in 2010 thanks to director Daniel Espinosa's film "Easy Money." The Swedish crime drama (originally, and more awesomely, titled "Snabba Cash") is getting a U.S. release in July -- and a U.S. remake is being produced by Zac Efron, of all people.

If Kinnaman still looks familiar but you can't quite place him, that's because he also appeared in Espinosa's North American debut "Safe House," starring Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington. The role was brief but memorable, and despite the short screen time Kinnaman made it clear to audiences that they would be seeing more of him in the future.

Speaking of the future, "RoboCop" sets the action in the not-to-distant future. The original 1987 film, directed by Paul Verhoeven ("Total Recall," "Starship Troopers"), painted future Detroit as a crime-ridden corporate dystopia in which the police were powerless to curb violence. When rookie cop Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) is killed in the line of duty, megacorporation Omni Consumer Products (which acquired the Detroit police department as a subsidiary) uses Murphy's remains for a military experiment and creates a cybernetic law enforcement officer in the process.

Kinnaman, who bears a striking resemblance to Weller, is set to play Murphy/RoboCop in a story that should stick quite closely to the original.

Before "RoboCop," Kinnaman was reportedly in contention for two other major Hollywood parts: the lead roles in both "Mad Max 4" and "Thor." Those parts eventually went to Tom Hardy and Chris Hemsworth, respectively, but one doesn't attract that kind of high-profile opportunity and not end up on screens elsewhere.

"RoboCop" is one of MGM's biggest and best-known franchises. If the sci-fi action remake is anything like the ultraviolent Verhoeven original, then MGM is definitely headed in the right direction. A PG-13 "RoboCop" just would not be the same. No director is currently attached to the project.

"RoboCop" will open in theatres some time in 2013.

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