Less a casting announcement and more a statement of directorial intent, Elite Squad director Jose Padilha has revealed that he intends to speak to Michael Fassbender with regard to his pending Robocop remake.

"It's early yet," Padilha admitted on a Brazilian TV show, but I really like Michael Fassbender. I'll talk to him. There's a possibility..." Far from concrete then, but an indicator that the the director plans to fill the metal suit with an actor more than capable of some affecting murdered-cyborg emoting, alongside the serving of the public trust, protecting of the innocent and upholding of the law. Peter Weller's are big robot boots to fill (Robert Burke's, not so much), but Fassbender is currently playing another synthetic elsewhere... Would he be interested?

The new Robocop stumbled during the MGM shenanigans, and lost its mooted director Darren Aronofsky along the way. We can only imagine what his version might have amounted to, but after talking with the likes of Robert Rodriguez and David Slade, the studio's alighting at Padilha is an interesting and exciting choice. The grittily excellent Elite Squad films made more money at the Brazilian box office than Avatar, and the second is this year's Brazilian nomination for Oscar consideration.

Padilha is currently fine-tuning the Robocop screenplay with buzzy young writer Josh Zetumer, and the director confirms that the action will take place, as before, in dystopian Detroit. He's currently in LA, hammering out the details that will allow him to start shooting in the spring.