In 2011, Hugh Jackman starred as a former boxer, Charlie Kenton, in the sci-fi film, Real Steel. The film was directed by Shawn Levi and explored the story of an underdog robot, owned by Charlie, as it enters a World Robot Boxing championship. Jackman was riding high on the success of the X-Men films and The Wolverine when he was offered the role of Charlie Kenton.
The film was produced by Dreamworks Pictures and it was one of their first projects following their split from Paramount Pictures. The film was distributed by Touchstone Pictures, which was a subsidiary of Disney. Jackman had some concerns regarding certain scenes in the film.
Hugh Jackman Thought The Movie’s Beginning Was Too Dark For Disney
In Real Steel, Hugh Jackman’s character works with his young son Max to build and prepare the robot, Atom, for a boxing match. Unlike his previous roles, where Jackman often played compassionate characters, Charlie had a questionable moral arc at the beginning of the movie. Max is Charlie’s son from his estranged girlfriend, who died recently. At the movie’s start, Charlie seeks ransom money from Max’s maternal aunt and uncle to allow them to take custody of Max.
The Prestige actor believed that this scene was too dark, especially considering the film was distributed by a production house that primarily targeted children and teenagers. In an interview with The Guardian prior to the film’s release, Jackman revealed that he had stated his concerns to director Shawn Levy about Disney axing some of the scenes and requesting reshoots. However, to his surprise, Disney decided to retain the scene despite its dark undertones. The Fountain actor told The Guardian:
“It was so much fun to see how far we could take Charlie. This is a DreamWorks picture being distributed by Disney, and our lead character sells his son in the first 20 minutes. I really liked that. When we showed it to the studio I thought they were gonna tell us to reshoot. I’d already asked Shawn: ‘Are we making him too much of an assh*le?’ The studio thought we’d pushed it but that it worked.”
Real Steel grossed $299.3 million at the box office, but its high budget of $110 million meant it was considered only a moderate success. It received mixed to positive reviews from critics.
Hugh Jackman Is Set To Work Again With Shawn Levy In Deadpool 3
After a couple of successful collaborations with Ryan Reynolds in Free Guy and The Adam Project, Shawn Levy was hired to direct the third installment in the Deadpool franchise. The first Deadpool movie was helmed by Tim Miller and the second by David Leitch. Shawn Levy is also famous for his work as director and executive producer of the Netflix series, Stranger Things.
Hugh Jackman is set to reprise his role as Wolverine in the film, creating huge excitement among Marvel and X-Men fans. Scheduled for a release on May 3, 2024, Deadpool 3 is part of Phase 5 of the MCU. It marks the first movie from the previous X-Men series to officially become part of the MCU. Wolverine’s character arc was earlier concluded in Logan, making his return to the MCU a thrilling surprise for fans.
Real Steel is now available for streaming on Hulu, while the previous Deadpool movies are available for streaming on Disney+.
Source: The Guardian
