Jackman Tests Mettle with "Real Steel"

Hugh Jackman,who just opened on Broadway in “A Steady Rain,” is in talks to star onscreen in the Shawn Levy-directed “Real Steel” for DreamWorks.

Pic is a Rocky-esque tale of a fighter who has to reinvent himself when human boxing becomes obsolete, replaced by 2000 pound human-like robots. Jackman is negotiating to play the ex-fighter, who becomes a Robot Boxing promoter, but whose chances of success are hampered by his access to sub-standard robot parts. That is until he discovers a discarded robot that always seems to win. The ex-fighter has also discovered he's the father of a 13-year old son, and they bond as the robot brawls its way toward the top.  

John Gatins is rewriting the current draft with Levy, and the studio is eyeing a May production start. 

Pic is being produced by Angry Films’ Don Murphy and Susan Montford. The executive producers are Steven Spielberg and ImageMovers troika Robert Zemeckis, Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey. Levy is also a producer.

Levy, who just completed the Fox comedy “Date Night” with Steve Carell and Tina Fey, came aboard the project several weeks ago. The studio hopes to get underway before next summer.

Jackman is starring opposite Daniel Craig in “A Steady Rain,” a Keith Huff play that opened Tuesday night at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater. Jackman and Craig play lifelong best friends and partners on the Chicago police force. The play finishes its sold-out limited run on December 7. 

“Real Steel,” which was originally scripted by Dan Gilroy, has been rewritten by Les Bohem and then Gatins. 

The premise is based on a short story by Richard Matheson. It's a reunion between Matheson and Spielberg. Matheson wrote Spielberg’s directing debut, the telepic “Duel,” and he was story editor on Spielberg’s “Amazing Stories.”

The early works of Matheson--who is still writing in his 80s--continues to inform current Hollywood films. That includes the Will Smith-starrer “I Am Legend,” the upcoming Richard Kelly-directed Cameron Diaz-starrer “The Box,” the Imagine/Universal comedy "The Incredible Shrinking Man," and Summit Entertainment’s “Countdown,” which is based on Matheson’s short story “Death Ship,” and was scripted by "Wanted" writers Michael Brandt and Derek Haas.

Jackman is repped by WME.