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MGM has decided to delay the release of its RoboCop remake until February 7, 2014.

The studio had originally set an August 9, 2013 release for the picture, which is still shooting in Toronto. Although the specific reason for pushing back the movie's release was not given by Sony or MGM, our best guess is that director Jose Padilha needs more time to assemble his film in post, finishing up special effects work, editing, the musical score and possibly ordering reshoots, if necessary.

However, a science fiction/action movie like RoboCop doesn't really feel like a good fit for a late winter release. The original RoboCop was released in the summer of 1987 and went on to become a sleeper hit, with the follow-up RoboCop 2 also released in the summertime three years later.

By and large, this genre of movies fairs better with audience reception in the warmer months. That said, there's simply too little information to make an adequate guess as to why Padilha's RoboCop was pushed back.

Filming only started yesterday on the remake of Robocop but already the first spy photos of Joel Kinnaman dressed up in his cyborg costume have hit the web.

The immediate reaction from the two leaked photos is that the new Robocop suit is of a dark metallic look, which is unlike the lighter brushed steel look that the 1987 Robocop costume had. Also evident is the new transparent helmet cap that Kinnaman wears, making his upper face visible through the covering.

As well, the new Robocop costume seems to have been inspired by the recent superhero costume designs. The musculature is more sculptured on the torso, and more detail is placed on the legs and arm coverings. That's more in step with the armored suit design we've seen in the Iron Man movies or with the Batman costumes in Christopher Nolan's three bat-films, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.

Judging from the crew working around Kinnaman and the crew trailers surrounding him, it appears that they might have been testing the walk or way that the actor moves in the Robocop costume outside the film stages. All it takes is a long-distance telephoto lens and a patient celebrity photographer and your top secret hero costume can be on the internet.

Variety's Justin Kroll tweets that it will be a former Batman, namely Michael Keaton, who fills the shoes of the new Robocop's primary villain.

Keaton is also known for his performances in Ron Howard's 1982 comedy Night Shift and Tim Burton's 1987 fantasy comedy Beetlejuice.

After the departure of Hugh Laurie from MGM's Robocop remake, there's a rumor floating around that Clive Owen is being approached about taking the job.

Proving just how ever changing the casting process is, now Variety's Jeff Snider is saying that House star Hugh Laurie will not play the villain in the new Robocop picture. "Hugh Laurie definitely out of Robocop reboot, not that he was ever 'in'," Snider stated.

He's best known for playing street criminal Omar Little in The Wire, but now that the series is over Michael K. Williams is getting big screen jobs. He's currently mulling over an offer that would see him come onboard the Robocop remake and play the fellow cop partner of Alex Murphy. The character is also described as being "tight with Murphy's family."

Actress Jennifer Ehle (who appeared in The King's Speech and The Ides of March) is in negotiations to join the cast. Her character would be named Liz Kline and is new to the Robocop universe.

Gary Oldman is the second announced cast member in the remake of Robocop. He will play a scientist named Norton who creates the cyborg and then becomes conflicted over the ethical boundary of where the man begins from the company-owned machine.

Oldman was recently nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his work in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. He'll be seen playing Commissioner Jim Gordon for the third time in The Dark Knight Rises.

Joel Kinnaman has won the lead role in the remake of Robocop. Best known to American audiences for his work in AMC's The Killing, Kinnaman also has a supporting role in the Denzel Washington action-thriller Safe House, now playing in theaters.

Is Russell Crowe being sought to play some role in MGM's remake of Robocop? According to Variety's Jeff Sneider who tweeted this morning the following: "Sure, Russell Crowe, MIGHT star in Aronofsky's NOAH... but do you know what else he MIGHT star in? Three words: Ro. Bo. Cop."

Sneider was later asked if he was kidding around tagging Crowe to playing the rebooted RoboCop. His response? "NO."

In related Robocop news, MGM recnetly hired Gran Torino writer Nick Schenk to write a new version of the updated RoboCop script. [Full story]

Brazilian-born director Jose Padilha is talking with MGM about becoming the latest job hire on the studio's RoboCop remake. Padilha is cresting on the good vibes he's earned from making two gritty action-crime movies called The Elite Squad and which have become hits with South American film audiences.

After finding itself in bankruptcy hell, MGM got a cash infusion of $500 million dollars last December, giving it the drive to get production resuming on Skyfall and The Hobbit. Now that the studio has those two highly anticipated films moving ahead, it's turning attention to other properties that had gotten stalled while in their credit crunch like RoboCop and the remake of Poltergeist.

Darren Aronofsky had been linked to the RoboCop remake for a couple of years before he left to go make The Wrestler. MGM tried to woo 30 Days of Night director David Slade but the Twilight sparkle motion people at Summit Entertainment got to him first and he made Eclipse for them. If MGM can saddle up Padilha and likely get a new draft of the screenplay done right, we could have a go picture about a year from now.

In their story, THR says that MGM is committed to making the RoboCop remake at a budget of $80 million dollars.

[Full story]

The Moviehole website reports via a scooper that the new RoboCop was among the first wave of jettisoned projects that MGM shed at the start of its insolvency, and that director Darren Aronofsky had moved on to other creative endeavors. [Full story]