Elysium, RoboCop release dates moved

Los Angeles - The RoboCop remake has been pushed back until 2014.

Sony Pictures have moved the opening of Jose Padilha's project - which stars Gary Oldman and Abbie Cornish and Joel Kinnaman as Alex Murphy/Robocop - back six months to 7 February 2014, after it was originally due to open on 9 August 2013.

Matt Damon's forthcoming film Elysium, directed by South African District 9 director Neill Blomkamp, will instead take the movie's place, moving back five months from its original release date of 1 March 2013.

Powerful cyborg

The reason for the delay of RoboCop - which will now go up against Need For Speed - has not been confirmed, but there is speculation the film could be set to get a 3D bolt on as a result of the additional time.

RoboCop - a remake of the 1987 original motion picture which saw Peter Weller in the titular role and also starred Nancy Allen - is to feature a star-studded cast including Samuel L Jackson and Michael Heaton, and tells the story of a fatally injured policeman who returns to the force as a powerful cyborg.

Elysium - which also stars Jodie Foster - will be set in the year 2159 and sees a man (Damon) who lives on a space station and aims to bring his world together with those who reside on an overcrowded Earth.

Matt previously said the movie will feature "a lot of action" and be "really fun and entertaining".