Sci-fi director Neill Blomkamp is no longer helming the new RoboCop installment for MGM, reportedly titled RoboCop Returns. The director of District 9 and Elysium took to Twitter to reveal that he is off the project.
Blomkamp explained that MGM can’t wait any longer for him to finish his current horror/thriller he is shooting now. This news comes with a little bit of surprise since Blomkamp is a great fan of the original RoboCop, and has paid homage to it in his previous film Chappie.
Off Robocop. I am shooting new horror/thriller and MGM can’t wait/ need to shoot Robocop now. Excited to watch it in theaters with other fans. N
— Neill Blomkamp (@NeillBlomkamp) August 15, 2019
RELATED – RoboCop Screenwriter Talks Upcoming Sequel
Unlike the previous RoboCop remake from 2014, the new film will be a direct sequel to the original based on an unused RoboCop 2 screenplay by original writers Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner, with rewrites by Justin Rhodes (Terminator: Dark Fate, Masters of the Universe). Neumeier and Miner were on board to serve as producer and executive producer, respectively.
Paul Verhoeven’s original 1987 classic RoboCop starred Peter Weller as Officer Alex Murphy, a man brutally killed in the line of duty and ultimately resurrected as the cyborg crime fighter. The film garnered $53 million at the box office and three Oscar nominations, winning one for sound effects editing. Additionally, Weller returned for the 1990 sequel RoboCop 2, directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay co-written by comics fav Frank Miller. That movie grossed $45 million but was not as well received.
RoboCop 3 was made in 1991, but not released until 1993 due to the bankruptcy of Orion Pictures. Eventually, the more kid-friendly PG-13 entry directed by Fred Dekker died at the box office with $10 million. Darren Aronofsky developed a big-budget RoboCop remake in the 2000s, but then left the project. Ultimately, Jose Padilha helmed the project and grossed $242 million worldwide in 2014. It didn’t convince the critics.
Who would you like to see helming RoboCop Returns? Let us know in the comments section below.
