Back in July of last year it was announced that District 9 and Elysium filmmaker Neill Blomkamp is set to direct a sequel to the original RoboCop – one that just so happens to be based on an old script from original screenwriters Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner which was written back in 1988 as a follow-up to Paul Verhoeven’s film.
Speaking to HN Entertainment (via Bloody Disgusting), Neumeier has offered up a few words on how the project came about, as well as Blomkamp’s vision for the movie.
“I am a producer at the moment,” said Neumeier. “We talked about it a couple of years back and I reminded [MGM] that we had written a very rough sequel back in 1988 which then was stopped by the writer’s strike, the same year. And they looked at it and they said ‘oh, good!’, so we did some more work on that and then Neill Blomkamp found out about it and he said ‘I have always wanted to do this, this is my dream project’ and MGM was very very pleased to get into business with him.”
“Neill Blomkamp and his screenwriter Justin Rhodes have done a pass on the script we were writing on and they’re doing another one,” he continued. “It is a slightly different concept in some ways than we were originally doing. I don’t want to talk too much about it or somebody will call me and tell me to shut up, but we’re hopeful and I think Neill really really wants to make a good RoboCop movie. His idea is that it should be the proper Verhoeven… if Verhoeven had directed a movie right after RoboCop… I think that’s what he is trying to achieve and I hope he does. We’ll see what happens next.”
Blomkamp was said to have wanted Peter Weller to reprise the title role for RoboCop Returns, although it was rumoured in November that Weller has passed on the chance to return as Alex Murphy.
Are you looking forward to Neill Blomkamp’s RoboCop Returns? Do you think he can do the original Paul Verhoeven movie justice with his sequel? Let us know in the comments below or tweet us @FlickeringMyth…
Originally published January 31, 2019. Updated December 6, 2022.
