In what amounts to the highest-profile role of his feature career, "House" star Hugh Laurie is in negotiations to play the villain in MGM's remake of "RoboCop," which will be distributed by Sony Pictures.
MGM had no comment on the casting.
"Elite Squad" helmer Jose Padilha is directing the origin story from a script by Josh Zetumer. Joel Kinnaman stars as the titular crimefighter, a decorated Detroit police office who undergoes a drastic transformation to become RoboCop after he's brutally murdered while on duty.
Laurie is making a deal to play the villainous CEO of Omni Corp, which creates the title character for its own gain.
Gary Oldman is set to co-star as the scientist who creates him, while Abbie Cornish will play his conflicted wife. Samuel L. Jackson has also signed on to play a patriotic media mogul.
Strike Entertainment partners Eric Newman and Marc Abraham are producing the pic, which is a remake of Paul Verhoeven's 1987 pic that starred Peter Weller. Production is skedded to start this summer.
Laurie received seven Emmy nominations for his perf as the title character on Fox's long-running hit series "House," which also earned him a pair of Golden Globes. His bigscreen credits include "Sense and Sensibility" and "Street Kings." WME-repped thesp has also wrapped a lead role in Andrew Adamson's war drama "Mister Pip."
