It's not long before Max, Charlie, and Atom are recognized by professional promoters and invited to take part in the WRB, Worldwide Robot Boxing. They are pitted in a match against Twin Cities, an Asian robot with two heads and users. After being beaten into a corner, Charlie finds Twin Cities' weakness, and during the confusion between it's controllers, Atom lays the beat down. After a grueling, metal-on-metal slug-fest, Atom finally is announced the victor. When entering the ring as the champion, Max grabs the microphone and publicly challenges Zeus to a duel. Hollywood's Top 40". Vanity Fair. March 2011. Archived from the original on May 29, 2011 . Retrieved October 3, 2011. That robot is Atom, the lead mech in Real Steel. Although he's made of steel, he's the heart of the humanistic tale that Levy set out to tell. Hinds, Julie (October 1, 2011). "Michigan locations in 'Real Steel' ". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on October 4, 2011 . Retrieved October 4, 2011.

The world of Real Steel has taken that notion to the next level. "Where this movie goes ... it's people's desire for spectacle, unhindered by the frailty of the human body, has given rise to this sport,” Levy explained. “We're building machines so we can pay our money and watch them completely wail on each other." Real Steel Movie Playsets and Role Playing Games". PaperBlog.com. November 3, 2011. Archived from the original on April 26, 2012 . Retrieved November 27, 2011. One of the particular challenges Real Steel faces is depicting the world of just nine years into the future, which means creating a world that is somehow both recognizable and at least a little futuristic. We asked Shawn Levy about his approach to creating a fully-realized world in which the robot boxing could exist. Here's his explanation: Build a roster of your favorite sport robots and take on the Legends in enthralling arenas and stadiums. Fleming, Michael (September 15, 2009). "Levy in for 'bots of 'Steel' ". Variety. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011 . Retrieved September 14, 2011.Join Atom, Zeus, Noisy Boy, and many more of your favorite Robots in the battle for supremacy of the Real Steel universe. This exciting action-fighting Robot Boxing and Brawler brings the heroic storytelling and spectacular action from over 100 years of Robot Fighting on to your mobile device! Top the Leaderboards, claim the Championship title and reign supreme as the Ultimate World Robot Boxing Champion. Win big in Versus Leagues & Global Tournaments. Real Steel (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020 . Retrieved May 4, 2020.

Nearly a decade after its release, Real Steel remains an antidote to overburdened superhero sagas and depressing dystopian nightmares of chosen ones discovering their destinies. It’s set in a world much like our own, (the year 2020) and the production designers were smart to keep it grounded by limiting technological differences to cooler cell phones and robot gladiators. DiOrio, Carl (December 9, 2009). "Touchstone sets 'Real Steel' release for 2011". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on July 26, 2015 . Retrieved July 19, 2015. Worley, Rob M. (September 13, 2011). "Bringing Real Steel's Robots To Life". ComicBookResources.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2011 . Retrieved September 28, 2011. In the near future when people become uninterested in boxing and similar sports, a new sport is created - Robot boxing wherein robots battle each other while being controlled by someone. Charlie Kenton, a former boxer who's trying to make it in the new sport, not only doesn't do well, he is very deeply in the red. When he learns that his ex, mother of his son Max, dies, he goes to figure out what to do with him. His ex's sister wants to take him in but Charlie has first say in the matter. Charlie asks her husband for money so he can buy a new Robot in exchange for turning Max over to them. He takes Max for the summer. And Max improves his control of his robot. But when the robot is destroyed, they go to a scrap yard to get parts. Max finds an old generation robot named Atom and restores him. Max wants Atom to fight but Charlie tells him he won't last a round. However, Atom wins. And it isn't long before Atom is getting major bouts. Max gets Charlie to teach Atom how to fight, and the father and son bond strenghtens. — [email protected]

Hinds, Julie (October 15, 2010). "Michigan movie clips". Detroit Free Press: C1. Archived from the original on September 14, 2011 . Retrieved September 14, 2011. . Abstract only: "Filming has concluded here on 'Real Steel,' 'Transformers 3,' 'Scream 4' and many other productions that made metro Detroit and nearby regions seem like Hollywood Midwest for the past few months". Kaufman, Amy (October 9, 2011). "Box Office: 'Real Steel' KOs competition, including George Clooney". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 11, 2019 . Retrieved May 4, 2020.

a b Kaufman, Amy (October 6, 2011). "Movie Projector: 'Real Steel' to crush 'Ides of March' ". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012 . Retrieved October 7, 2011. Staff (September 23, 2011). "Jump Games releases Real Steel fighting game for Android and iOS". ThinkDigit.com. Nine Dot Nine Mediaworx Pvt. Ltd. Archived from the original on September 26, 2011 . Retrieved October 3, 2011. October 7–9, 2011 Weekend". Archived from the original on October 18, 2011 . Retrieved October 18, 2011. a b c Fernandez, Jay A.; Kit, Borys (September 15, 2009). "Shawn Levy is new man of 'Steel' ". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 14, 2011 . Retrieved September 14, 2011.

Speaking of which, Real Steel feels like the much-needed antithesis of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, now stuffed to the breaking point with capes and cowls. The MCU now contains nearly three dozen individual superheroes all vying for screen time, not to mention the brain space fans are expected to devote to all the narrative threads unspooling over 23 movies. It’s enough to make you wish Thanos really did wipe out half of that interconnected universe. Weintraub, Steve (January 14, 2022). " 'Real Steel' TV Series In Development at Disney+". Collider. Archived from the original on January 13, 2022 . Retrieved January 13, 2022.

But Atom will face some formidable opponents in the ring. Levy told us they designed some 20 robots for the fight scenes in Real Steel. The reigning champ of the WRB is Zeus, who was groomed for the belt by Farrah Lenkova (played by Olga Fonda). Raging Bender" from the second season of Futurama also depicts a hidden human controller of a robotic boxer. I think the key was to not do the same futurism we see in the movies. It's twofold. I wanted a future that felt within a relatable radius. I didn't want a future - look, I love a Blade Runner or a Minority Report as much as the next guy, but Real Steel was always going to live or die on audiences connecting with the characters. To connect with the characters, you need to connect with the world. If the world feels vaguely familiar, I believe the characters will feel relatable. So that was everything. If I just wanted to make a robot boxing spectacle, I would have gone deeper into the distance. But I wanted to keep the world closer to home, so we had a chance of keying into the world and keying into the characters. The robots in the movie are an interesting mix of CGI and actual life-size remote control models. Legacy Effects built working versions of all three of Charlie Kenton's "hero" robots - Ambush, Noisy Boy, and the movie's robot star Atom - so that the actors could actually interact with and to complement the digitally created boxing scenes. Steel was adapted into a Season 5 episode of The Twilight Zone which aired on October 4, 1963. Its plot unspools in the futuristic world of 1974 where human boxing is illegal and replaced by violent android matches. We follow Steel Kelly, a washed-up human boxer played by Lee Marvin, who manages an antiquated android named Battling Maxo while grappling with the fact that his sports career has been eclipsed by brawling machines. When his broken-down bot fails its physical, Kelly must disguise himself as Maxo to collect the prize money required for repairs and struggles to maintain the charade to beat the bell.Not based on any pre-existing mega property, comic book, graphic novel, or toy line, Real Steel’s original screenplay is instead loosely based on Steel, a cynical 1956 short story by I Am Legend’s Richard Matheson. After the legendary Rod Serling, Matheson is responsible for writing the most episodes of the original The Twilight Zone TV series than any other writer. White, James (n.d.). "Real Steel". Empire. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015 . Retrieved April 20, 2020. Then there are the robot fights. "Steel," the short story, is one of those tales that needed technology to catch up to it before it could be given the adaptation it deserved. Real Steel feels like that adaptation. Maybe the CGI has already become dated, but the combination of CGI motion and practical props give the robot some genuine life, even though it isn't sentient. Real Steel is very explicitly only a loose adaptation of Matheson's works, but we were curious whether the filmmakers had looked to incorporate anything from the original "Steel," particularly the most iconic part of the story in which Lee Marvin actually climbs inside his broken down robot and boxes in its place. Producer Don Murphy explained to us how he and fellow producer Susan Montford had been desperate to find a suitable replacement for that moment: