Neill Blomkamp To Direct RoboCop Returns

 

Stymied from his Aliens 5 concept, director Neill Blomkamp has found another abandoned sequel to pursue: RoboCop Returns.
Deadline reports the Chappie director will helm a new sequel to the 1987 Paul Verhoeven film. The story will be derived from a script original writers Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner decades ago, but was abandoned in favor of the eventual RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3; written whole or in part by The Dark Knight Returns‘ Frank Miller. Neumeier and Miner will produce the new film with screenwriter Justin Rhodes giving the script a fresh update for Blomkamp.
The original film starred Peter Weller as police officer Alex Murphy in a future Detroit where crime is on the rise and policing has been outsourced to Omni Consumer Products’ Security Concepts division. When Murphy is brutally murdered, OCP transforms his corpse into the future of law enforcement: a powerful android with the training and experience of a seasoned police officer. Unfortunately for the company, that experience comes with Murphy’s personal memories and a desire to reconnect with that life. The comic book-ready premise became a satirical classic under Verhoeven’s directions. The Miller-written sequels played things broader and straighter while a 2014 reboot starring Joe Kinnaman went even straighter with the dramatic hooks; leading to a domestic flop despite great worldwide numbers.
The new sequel will see RoboCop return to Detroit as crime is once again on the rise with Blomkamp adding “What draws me now is someone searching for their lost identity, taken away at the hands of people who are benefiting from it, and seeing [Murphy’s] memory jogged by events.”
The film is not yet schedule for release.