Yesterday we celebrated 10 years of director Neil Blomkamp’s District 9 so it feels fitting that the director is the center of some news today. Blomkamp had been attached to direct a reboot of the RoboCop franchise for MGM, set to be a decades-later sequel to Paul Verhoeven’s original classic. Blomkamp had been saying that it’d definitely be rated “R” and would feature the original suit, perhaps even the return of Peter Weller but it looks like Blomkamp’s involvement is now not meant to be.
Taking to Twitter this morning, Blomkamp announced that he’s no longer directing RoboCop for MGM. The reason looks to be a scheduling conflict with another project:
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
This isn’t the first time Blomkamp has been attached to a popular franchise reboot/sequel before ultimately departing. After his success with District 9 & a competent follow-up with Elysium, he was going to take on a direct sequel to James Cameron’s Aliens with Sigourney Weaver attached & even had some intriguing concept art to go along with his vision. Unfortunately, it all fell through & his Alien film never came to be.
First announced just over a year ago, RoboCop Returns is a direct sequel to the original 1987 RoboCop and is based on a screenplay that the first film’s writers Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner were working on before the 1988 writers strike forced them off the project. Terminator: Dark Fate co-writer Justin Rhodes has updated the Neumeier and Miner script with a fresh rewrite.
