Earlier this week we reported that Abbie Cornish and Samuel L. Jackson were joining the cast of Jose Padilha‘s Robocop reboot. But the film still lacked a force for Robocop to deal with. That has all changed.

Rather than spend time with a vacation after working on eight seasons of the Fox medical drama House, actor Hugh Laurie is quickly getting back to work. And he is doing it in a very big way. Laurie is now signed on to play as the villain of the movie.

Variety reports that Laurie will be playing a very critical role in the film. We’ve seen him in a wide array of films ranging from live-action to animation, family friendly to darker mature films. It should be exciting to see what Laurie can bring to the table as the villain of the film. According to the trade, Laurie will play as the CEO of the corporation what creates the first Robocop for their own agenda.

Padilha’s Robocop will bare some resemblance to Paul Verhoeven’s original film. One of Detroit’s finest is gunned down while on duty, but he is then resurrected as a robotic officer of the law.

Gary Oldman also stars in the film. He will play as the scientist who reconstructs Joel Kinnman into Robocop.

The Robocop reboot hits theaters on August 9th, 2013.

[Source: Variety]