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RoboCop: "See it before you shit on it," says producer - SciFiNow

RoboCop: “See it before you shit on it,” says producer

RoboCop producer Eric Newman on the leaked set pictures and the bad press for the reboot

“You know,” says producer Eric Newman, speaking exclusively to SciFiNow. “I believe when you try and spin marketing to sway popular opinion, it always backfires. I think you should see the movie, and if you want to shit on the movie after you see it, it’s hard to argue with you.”

One of the earliest RoboCop photos to hit the internet was a leaked location shot, which hardly showed the new black armour in its best light. Fan reaction was instantly negative.

Bearing in mind the fact that the so-called Mark 1 suit seen early in the film is quite similar to the familiar 1987 version, why would the producers not release that photo to quell negative reaction created by the initial leaked image? Or better yet, show fans a proper still of the Mark 2 suit in action.

“It’s amazing how savvy audiences are now with all of the access they have,” the producer continues, “and yet they look at some paparazzi photo, taken in broad daylight with none of the things that everybody knows goes into the moviemaking process, and they have a point of view about it.

“Should we release some glossed-up footage just to show people that, ‘This is cool!’ No, they’ll see the movie when it comes out and they’ll either say, ‘I want to see that!’ or, ‘No, I don’t want to see that!’ I don’t believe anybody has made up their mind yet, just because they saw our suit in an unauthorised shot; I just think playing that game almost always backfires.”

RoboCop is due in cinemas 7 February 2014 – read our review here – while the original trilogy is available now on Blu-ray for £10 from Amazon.co.uk.