He will play Omni Corp CEO after negotiations with Laurie fell through

Aug 31, 2012 12:03 GMT  ·  By

Our hopes of seeing Hugh Laurie as the villain in the “RoboCop” remake have just been shattered. The “House M.D.” star is out of the race after negotiations fell through, and has been replaced with Michael Keaton, Variety confirms.

“BREAKING: Michael Keaton to replace Hugh Laurie in ROBOCOP remake,” Justin Kroll of Variety writes on his Twitter feed.

Keaton comes to join a stellar cast led by relative newcomer Joel Kinnaman, who plays the titular character.

Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson, Jackie Earle Haley, Abbie Cornish, Jay Baruchel, Marianne Jean-Baptiste and Michael K. Williams are also attached to star in the remake, which drops in August next year.