Next year’s RoboCop reboot is set to be one of the biggest blockbusters of the summer, and after kicking off the viral campaign for the film last week, MGM have released the first official synopsis for their film, and announced that the brilliant StudioCanal have acquired the distribution rights in the UK, France, and Germany.

The reboot sees Joel Kinnaman (The Killing) take on the leading role, and he’ll be joined by the lovely Abbie Cornish (Limitless), Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight Rises), and Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction), with Elite Squad’s José Padilha behind the camera.

Hugh Laurie has also been in talks to play the antagonist, and though the press release makes no mention of him, here’s to hoping that talks are moving in the right direction.

“In RoboCop, the year is 2029 and multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the center of robot technology.  Their drones are winning American wars around the globe and now they want to bring this technology to the home front.  Alex Murphy is a loving husband, father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit.  After he is critically injured in the line of duty, OmniCorp utilizes their remarkable science of robotics to save Alex’s life.  He returns to the streets of his beloved city with amazing new abilities, but with issues a regular man has never had to face before.”

RoboCop is set to be released on 9th August in the UK and US, and you can bet that it’s going to be pretty immense in scale. More as we get it. For now, the full press release.

Los Angeles, CA (July 11, 2012) – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) today announced that STUDIOCANAL has acquired rights to RoboCop, MGM and Sony’s reboot of the 1987 sci-fi action classic, in the UK, France and Germany. STUDIOCANAL will release director José Padilha’s RoboCop theatrically and across platforms including video, VOD and television, with certain limited exceptions. The announcement was made by Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officers of MGM, and Olivier Courson, Chairman and CEO of STUDIOCANAL.

“MGM is thrilled to be bringing RoboCop back to the big screen,” said Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officers of MGM. “STUDIOCANAL is the ideal partner to help us share the reimagined, action-packed classic with audiences in the UK, France and Germany.”

“STUDIOCANAL is extremely happy to be partnering with MGM on RoboCop.  We have been admirers of the director José Padilha since we first saw and distributed the award winning Elite Squad in the United Kingdom.  As film fans, we cannot wait to see his vision of this new RoboCop with such an incredible cast including Gary Oldman, Joel Kinnaman, and Samuel Jackson and with producers like Marc Abraham and Eric Newman,” said Olivier Courson, Chairman and CEO of STUDIOCANAL.

In RoboCop, the year is 2029 and multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the center of robot technology.  Their drones are winning American wars around the globe and now they want to bring this technology to the home front.  Alex Murphy is a loving husband, father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit.  After he is critically injured in the line of duty, OmniCorp utilizes their remarkable science of robotics to save Alex’s life.  He returns to the streets of his beloved city with amazing new abilities, but with issues a regular man has never had to face before.

Director José Padilha (Elite Squad) reimagines the tale of part man, part machine, all cop starring Joel Kinnaman (“The Killing”) as the title character, Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight Rises) as the scientist who creates RoboCop, and Samuel L. Jackson (The Avengers) as media mogul Pat Novak. RoboCop is being produced by Strike Entertainment’s Marc Abraham and Eric Newman, with Eric Carraro as Executive Producer. The film is currently in pre-production and slated for a summer 2013 release.

STUDIOCANAL will release RoboCop theatrically in the UK, France and Germany in 2013. STUDIOCANAL acquired the rights to the film for 20 years.