MUMBAI: After doing a wide search for its search of a young actor to play Hugh Jackman‘s son in Real Steel, DreamWorks and director Shawn Levy have zeroed in on 11-year-old Canadian Dakota Goyo for the part.

The story, set in a future world where robot-boxing has replaced human mano-a-mano, follows a former boxer (Jackman) who gets a shot at redemption when he teams up with his long lost son to train an unusual robot for a shot at the championships. 

DreamWorks, that is making its first film under its deal with Disney, had issued a public casting search in early February and also conducted open auditions in Chicago and New York looking for someone to essay a "street-smart, tough, charming kid with a hard, untrusting outer shell that hides a warm enthusiastic spirit beneath."

Goyo, who has worked mainly in Canadian television, may be best known Stateside for his work with Samuel L. Jackson and Josh Hartnett in 2007‘s Resurrecting the Champ.

Production of Steel is set to begin in June with Disney releasing the film on 8 November, 2011.