Hugh Jackman joins Steven Spielberg for a blockbuster described as Rocky with robots

Wolverine star Hugh Jackman is joining forces with Steven Spielberg for a blockbuster described as Rocky with robots.

The Australian actor has been signed up by the director’s DreamWorks studio for Real Steel, its first big film since new funding brought it back to life after financial problems last year.

Directed by Shawn Levy, of Night at the Museum, the picture will see Jackman as a former boxer reinventing himself as the promoter for a fighting robot in a future where machines take over from humans in the ring.

It is a recurring theme for Spielberg, who has explored the subject of technology taking over from humans in the likes of Minority Report and A.I.: Artificial Intelligence.

According to Variety, the ‘Rocky-esque’ film has been described by Levy as a “rousing sports movie” with Jackman’s character “a former boxer who can no longer do the only job he’s good at, and one particular robot that may be his return to grace”.

Jackman will reportedly play a struggling robot boxing promoter who finds a discarded robot that always seems to win.

He also discovers he has a 11-year-old son, and they bond as the robot brawls its way toward the top.

Production on the film, which is based on a short story, is set to start in June.