Early word was that Jose Padilha, the Brazilian filmmaker whose unbelievably intense “Elite Squad” films had cinema-goers chewing off their fingernails the world over, had kind of a rough time on his big budget remake of “RoboCop” for MGM. Of course reports varied, but it seems the experience on that $100 million film wasn’t too painfully awful, since he has signed on for another American project, and this time it’s a true crime story called “The Brotherhood” for Warner Bros.
The project is based on the book “The Brotherhoods: The True Story of Two Cops Who Murdered for the Mafia,” a nonfiction saga written by Guy Lawson and William Oldham. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the book concerns two very corrupt cops, each working for a different crime syndicate, who would sabotage cases, steal or destroy evidence, and even murder for their respective gangster overlords. Bill Dubuque, who also had a hand in Robert Downey Jr.’s “The Judge” (also at Warner Bros.), adapted the script.
This project is right up Padilha’s alley; the “Elite Squad” movies were filled with cops and corruption, violence, and daring (though occasionally misguided) feats of heroism. Few American movies, even those released post-‘Bourne,’ could capture the kind of unrelenting chaos and intensity of the two “Elite Squad” squads which also, like “The Brotherhood,” featured a whole host of colorful characters and scenarios.
“RoboCop” doesn’t come out until February 7, 2014, but we would bet there’ll be a flashy trailer that debuts sometime this summer. No timetable has been set for “The Brotherhood.”
José Padilha is one of the finest Brazilian filmmakers today. I hope he'll do with Robocop what Christopher Nolan did with Batman, because he has the talent required to such an undertaking. In Brazil we are hoping that he's well-received in the U.S. movie business. Such an exchange of professionals will provide many benefits to both sides.
BRAZIL!