Before he was Captain America, Anthony Mackie was in a little action movie called Real Steel. Now ten years after its release, Mackie’s ready to do a sequel, and he’s got a really good idea of what he wants the science fiction movie to be about.
“I think the possibilities are endless,” the actor told Entertainment Weekly. “I always thought about the idea of going to the underground world and seeing what the reality is. The underground boxing circuit is so different than that last fight [the finale League match in the movie] with all the glitz and the glam and the polish. I feel like you can do a Mad Max meets Real Steel, and I could be Tina Turner.”
Real Steel opened to mixed reviews when it hit theatres in 2011 but has built a devoted fan base over time. The film stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton a former boxer who spends his days building tin-pot robots that barely make it from one round to the next. Wanting one last chance at the big time, Charlie teams up with his estranged son, Max (Dakota Goyo), to build and train a championship robot.
It’s basically Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, the movie, but unlike other attempts to turn boardgames into a film (we’re talking about you Battleship), this one’s actually OK.
Director Shawn Levy also took the time to tell EW why the film never got a sequel. “We had some ideas right as we were finishing the movie, but none of them felt fully formed and special enough,” he said. “Are we sure we can top it? We never got to that draft.”
“We did well, but not well enough,” Levy continued. “It wasn’t like we had $500 million, and a sequel was a no-brainer. So, the economics were on the bubble. We didn’t have the perfect script idea. It’s still something we flirt with because whatever enduring love fans have for Real Steel, Hugh Jackman and I share it.”