Hollywood Popular Artists

Aug 24th 2012, 18:08

"RoboCop" has lost one of the biggest names from its roster.

News broke back in June that Hugh Laurie was in talks to play the main villain in "RoboCop," but assumptions that he had signed on board were premature. Variety's Jeff Sneider tweeted that Laurie is now officially out of the potential role.

"HUGH LAURIE definitely out of ROBOCOP reboot, not that he was ever 'in,'" he said.

That means that the part of Omni Corp's evil CEO is still up for grabs. We're sure that it won't take long for director Jose Padilha to fill that role, and he probably has a whole list of other big Hollywood actors interested in the part. "RoboCop" does have one of the most impressive casts that we've seen recently, after all. Currently signed on are Joel Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish, Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson, Jay Baruchel, Jennifer Ehle, Jackie Earle Haley and Michael Kenneth Williams.

"RoboCop" follows a Detroit police officer named Alex Murphy who is killed while trying to fend off some local criminals. He is given a second lease on life by OmniCorp, and is resurrected as a mostly-robotic crime fighting machine. Kinnaman will play Murphy, Oldman will play the scientist who creates his alterego, Cornish is Murphy's wife (who was only seen in flashbacks in the original "RoboCop") and Jackson will play a charismatic media mogul. Meanwhile, Williams will play Murphy's partner and Ehle will play a character named "Liz Kline." "RoboCop" is slated for a summer 2013 release date.

Are you disappointed Laurie won't be involved in "RoboCop"? Tell us in the comments section below or on Twitter!

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