Bruce Willis Battles Robots In Surrogates

CEBU, Philippines - Bruce Willis has demonstrated incredible versatility in a career that has included such diverse characterizations as the prizefighter in “Pulp Fiction,” the heroic time traveler in “12 Monkeys,” the compassionate child psychologist in “The Sixth Sense,” and his signature role, Detective John McClane, in the “Die Hard” series. Now, he plays a conflicted FBI agent in Touchstone Pictures’ new sci-fi thriller “Surrogates.”

“Bruce is really one of the great film actors of his generation,” says director Jonathan Mostow. “It’s a very specific skill to be able to pull off movies that have a very high-concept idea behind them. Here, it’s an alternative reality, and yet he makes it credible. That’s really his gift.”

In the film, people are living their lives remotely from the safety of their own homes via robotic surrogates—sexy, physically perfect mechanical representations of themselves. These robots are fit, good looking, remotely controlled machines that ultimately assume the people’s life roles—enabling the latter to experience life vicariously from the comfort and safety of their own homes. 

It’s an ideal world where crime, pain, fear and consequences don’t exist. When the first murder in years jolts this utopia, FBI agent Greer (Willis) discovers a vast conspiracy behind the surrogate phenomenon and must abandon his own surrogate, risking his life to unravel the mystery.

“The thing about Bruce is he plays a great cop, but he also plays a great Everyman,” says producer David Hoberman. “Both from a philosophical and theoretical perspective, that’s what this character is. As he goes through this journey, he discovers what humanity versus surrogacy is, which leads his character to a great crisis. The movie also has action and all the things you’d want to see in a Bruce Willis movie.”

“In the movie, the humanity comes through in Bruce’s character,” Mostow says. “Like everyone else, he goes about his daily grind using this technology. He’s an FBI agent who stays at home, in the safety of his apartment, and allows his robotic surrogate to go out and perform all the dangerous tasks that are involved with his work. At a certain point, he loses his surrogate and is forced to go out as himself and experience life as a human being again in a world that is completely technological and robotic.

“At the same time, he discovers feelings that have been building up inside of him about his own disconnection from his wife, who’s addicted to using her surrogate,” the director continues. “He’s a man who’s in an existential crisis. As he begins to live as a human being, he realizes how warped the world is. He begins to see the world totally differently.”

“I see Greer as someone who has lived in and embraced the surrogate world for some time,” adds Hoberman. “Once his surrogate is destroyed and he can’t get another one, he’s a man, a human, out there in the world. Eventually he has to make a choice.”

“In this fast-changing 21st century, where the technological changes of the Internet and all these things are happening at warp speed, there’s this generalized anxiety in people as to how to adapt in that environment,” Mostow says. “And this story about surrogates speaks to that. It becomes an allegory for life in the technological age. People identify with different aspects of the story immediately because they see it in their own lives.”

Opening soon across the Philippines, “Surrogates” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International.