Home Movies

The Internet’s Blasting Vin Diesel’s Rock ‘Em Sock Em’ Robots Movie As A Real Steel Ripoff

The news arrived yesterday that Vin Diesel was set to remain in business with Universal, the studio behind the all-conquering Fast & Furious franchise, to produce and star in and produce a live-action Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots movie through his One Race Films banner. Mattel are also heavily involved in the project, which is set to be written by Ryan Engle, who scripted Liam Neeson action thrillers Non-Stop and The Commuter, as well as Dwayne Johnson's video game adaptation Rampage.

Real Steel

The news arrived yesterday that Vin Diesel was set to remain in business with Universal, the studio behind the all-conquering Fast & Furious franchise, to produce and star in a live-action Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots movie through his One Race Films banner. Mattel are also heavily involved in the project, which is set to be written by Ryan Engle, who scripted Liam Neeson action thrillers Non-Stop and The Commuter, as well as Dwayne Johnson’s video game adaptation Rampage.

Recommended Videos

In keeping with Diesel’s signature role as Dominic Toretto, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots has been described as a story about family, as a father and son duo form a unique bond with an advanced fighting machine that eventually brings them closer together. Of course, the internet has been quick to point out that we’ve seen this exact movie already, and it was called Real Steel.

Real Steel itself was clearly indebted to Mattel’s beloved toys for inspiration, with Hugh Jackman’s deadbeat dad initially agreeing to basically sell his son before they bond over the course of several robot fighting tournaments. Naturally, people were keen to point out the comparisons, and you can see some of the reactions below.

https://twitter.com/Rohan_312/status/1384193893688700933?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1384193893688700933%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmovies%2Fnews%2Frock-em-sock-em-robots-movie-universal-vin-diesel-real-steel%2F

https://twitter.com/NotJohn____/status/1384218999207075844?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1384218999207075844%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmovies%2Fnews%2Frock-em-sock-em-robots-movie-universal-vin-diesel-real-steel%2F

https://twitter.com/RedLightning_69/status/1384256641965559812?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1384256641965559812%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fmovies%2Fnews%2Frock-em-sock-em-robots-movie-universal-vin-diesel-real-steel%2F

Real Steel

https://twitter.com/Atreides42/status/1384216003668701187

Shawn Levy’s family-friendly blockbuster didn’t earn enough at the box office to generate a sequel, but it’s since gained an appreciation as something of an underrated cult favorite, and it dominated Netflix’s most-watched list for weeks on end after being added to the library last year, leading to hopes that a second installment could happen. It looks like Diesel’s Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots is getting there first, but social media users would clearly much rather see Real Steel 2.