After successfully securing nearly $825 in financing from J.P. Morgan, Reliance Pictures and Disney, DreamWorks is going forward with the sci-fi sports tale Real Steel directed and produced by Shawn Levy and starring Hugh Jackman in the leading role. The sci-fi sports epic will be produced on a mere $80 million budget — significantly less than most studio sci-fi films produced recently.

Real Steel is one of 17 projects that Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider retained in the split with Paramount in 2008. The Richard Matheson short story is a continuation of Spielberg’s work with projects involving humanistic robots — A.I.: Artificial Intelligence and Transformers to name a few.

Jackman will play promoter and manager to a struggling robot in a world where boxing matches are no longer decided by feats of strength and heart — Boxers in this world have been replaced by boxing robots. Much of the heart of the story is based on the father-son relationship that develops with the 11-year-old son that Jackman discovers, however on the surface it’s described as a “rousing sports movie.”

Production is set to begin in June 2010 with a 2011 release.

Is a $80 million budget enough for a large studio sci-fi release?

Source: Variety