During production of the film, José Padilha phoned friend and fellow Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles to confide in him his frustration in the lack of creative control he was allowed by the studio for the project. Padilha estimated that for every ten ideas he brought to the project, the studio refused nine, and went on to the describe the making of the film as "The worst experience of his life". When word of this conversation became public, in an effort to appease the studio, Padilha released counter statements expressing satisfaction with the film.
Director José Padilha and Joel Kinnaman (Alex Murphy/RoboCop) fought hard for an R-rating, but due to the ever expanding budget, which ballooned from a modest $60 million to $100 million, studio executives were forced to deliver a PG-13 rating, in hopes of recouping the money the studio had spent on the film. Throughout the course of filming, studio executives kept a close eye on Padilha, making sure he was going to deliver a PG-13 rating.
Paul Verhoeven, the director of RoboCop (1987), was skeptical of the remake, saying that it was typical of the lack of fresh ideas in Hollywood. He was even less impressed by the finished movie, commenting that, just like Total Recall (2012) (another remake of one of his movies), it lacked the humor that made the original work so well.
RoboCop having one human hand in his final form is a nod to RoboCop (1987), in which the technicians argue with Bob Morton about whether to salvage Murphy's arm after he was "killed" in the line of duty. In the original film, Morton callously nixes the idea, and the decision is made to remove Murphy's surviving arm.
In Raymond Sellars' (Michael Keaton's) office, in a display case, is a suit reminiscent of the RoboCop (1987) suit that Peter Weller wore.