One of the biggest blockbusters set to hit next summer will be the RoboCop remake. The film has been in the works for some time now, and is officially scheduled for next summer, with Elite Squad’s José Padilha at the helm.

Word has been circulating for some time that Hugh Laurie was in talks to take the lead antagonist role in the upcoming production, but Variety’s Jeff Sneider reports that Laurie is now definitely ‘out’ of the reboot (in the sense that he’d never officially joined in the first place).

“In RoboCop, the year is 2029 and multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the center of robot technology.  Their drones are winning American wars around the globe and now they want to bring this technology to the home front.  Alex Murphy is a loving husband, father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit.  After he is critically injured in the line of duty, OmniCorp utilizes their remarkable science of robotics to save Alex’s life.  He returns to the streets of his beloved city with amazing new abilities, but with issues a regular man has never had to face before.”

Joel Kinnaman (The Killing) is taking the lead this time around as Alex Murphy / RoboCop, and is joined by the rather excellent likes of Gary Oldman, Abbie Cornish, Samuel L. Jackson, Jay Baruchel, Jennifer Ehle, Michael K. Williams, and Jackie Earle Haley.

As yet, there’s no word on who’s set to be the villain instead of Laurie, but with the film already scheduled for an August 2013 release, production will be aiming to move forward pretty soon.

RoboCop is currently set for a 9th August, 2013 release, and with a bit of luck, we’ll have some more casting news for you soon.