Team behind robot-boxing film ‘Real Steel’ think it’s destined to be a franchise

TORONTO – If the Canadian director helming “Real Steel” has his way, the new robot-boxing movie executive produced by Steven Spielberg will definitely get a sequel and maybe even a slew of them.

The film, a mixture of “Rocky” and “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial” with a touch of “Transformers, is set in a not-too-distant future when robots replace humans in the professional boxing world.

Montreal-born Shawn Levy thinks there’s a good chance that “Real Steel” will become a big screen franchise, and he gives a lot of credit to his pint-sized Canadian star Dakota Goyo, who just turned 12.

“I certainly directed him a lot but there’s some scenes where I just got out of the way because that boy is talented, that boy has that extra something that Ricky Schroder had in ‘The Champ,’ or that Elliott (played by Henry Thomas) in ‘E.T.’ had,” Levy said.

Goyo plays a sullen young boy who is dealing with the death of his mother and is forced to reunite with his deadbeat dad (Hugh Jackman), who is struggling to get by as a fight promoter. The pair don’t get off on the right foot but start to bond as they work on their own robot combatant, Atom.

“I saw hundreds of boys – I saw some in person, some on the Internet and some on tape from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, London, L.A., New York, Chicago, Dallas – and I said I needed more than talent, I needed something extra. I knew it when it walked in the room and it was called Dakota Goyo,” said Levy.

“It’s that authenticity in the face that is kind of heartbreaking and really makes you root for him. And Dakota has that big time.”

Jackman gushed about Goyo’s performance and his amazing professionalism for a youngster.

“Dakota’s going to be a big star – although I never say that to him – because for him it’s just natural, he’s an actor,” Jackman said.

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“He’s really got that sensibility, he’s mature beyond his years. I have such great admiration and affection for that boy.”

Remarkably, Goyo insists the experience of making the blockbuster movie wasn’t unnerving, other than having to learn to dance and perform some of those new moves in a number of big scenes.

“I don’t get nervous for acting, I’ve been doing it since I was so young so it’s not really new to me, I’m not scared of doing it anymore,” said the Toronto native, who has previously appeared in “Thor,” “Defendor” and TV’s “Murdoch Mysteries.”

“But it was nerve-wracking because I usually have stage fright for dancing. And I had to dance in front of thousands of extras, so it was difficult.”

As thrilling as it was to be cast in a Spielberg movie (although Goyo admits his only knowledge of the Hollywood legend consists of having seen half of “E.T.”), it was the subject matter that really excited the pre-teen.

Rather than relying entirely on special effects, real robots – some of which stand almost nine feet tall – were built and used for many scenes.

“Seeing them in real life, their hands and their heads moved, it was just unbelievable to see,” gushed Goyo.

“I was looking up at them and having neck cramps, we were pretty stoked, I really loved acting with the real robots.”

Levy said it was at the urging of Spielberg that he decided to use real robots, which wowed the actors and elevated their performances.

“Every scene that a robot is not walking or fighting you’re looking at a real remote-controlled robot and it’s why the performances in the movie have not only a realism to them but a magic to them, particularly with Dakota,” he said.

“The reason those scenes look like that boy loves that robot is because he did, that’s a real 11-year-old boy doing a scene with a robot.”

Jackman said he, too, felt like an overjoyed kid being on set with the robots.

“I still remember the day we were first shown these robots, and there’s a picture of the two of us, Dakota and I, and we both look like we’re 11 years olds because (our reaction) is like, ‘Wow!'” Jackman said.

“They lit up and when we were talking they’d look down at us, they’d nod, their bodies would move, their arms would move – they were completely real as far as we were concerned.”

But the real robots weren’t built for battle, so actors in motion-capture suits got on stilts to act out the elaborate fight scenes, which were meticulously choreographed. The cast was dumbstruck again when they eventually saw the convincing special effects that brought the robot-fighting scenes to life.

“I was completely blown away from the very opening shots, seeing the robots and their swagger and their human qualities that were infused into them,” said Thunder Bay, Ont.-native Kevin Durand, who plays a villain in the movie.

“(During one scene) I was like, ‘Oh my God, it’s like Clint Eastwood from a western,’ it was so incredibly cool, so well done.”

Talks are already well advanced for a sequel and although Levy is gung ho about it, he’s trying not to get too far ahead of himself.

“We are talking sequel but I do not count those chickens. I made one movie as well as I can and if people show up and tell their friends and their friends show up and we’re on a good roll then we’ll make the sequel,” he said.

One thing he already knows he’d like to explore in the sequel – or sequels – is even more elaborate robot designs.

“I’m going way off grid in the sequel, these robots are going to be much more crazily designed, more machinistic, a crazier range of robo designs.”

Jackman is also signed up for the sequel, should it happen.

“It feels very natural, I feel like this movie is ‘Rocky’ for a new generation.”