Director Neill Blomkamp Drops Out of ROBOCOP RETURNS To Shoot a Horror Film

Lots of fans seemed excited when District 9 director Neill Blomkamp jumped on board to direct RoboCop Returns, which will be a direct sequel to the the original 1987 RoboCop film.

This movie is based on a script that was written years ago by RoboCop's original screenwriters Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner. That movie never happened due to some issues. Justin Rhodes, who co-wrote Terminator: Dark Fate for James Cameron and Tim Miller, is rewriting that script, which was originally a planned sequel to Verhoeven’s film.

Well, Blomkamp has announced that he is no longer directing the movie. Instead his is going off to direct a horror thriller and MGM isn’t going to put the project on hold for him because they need to shoot RoboCop Returns soon.

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

So, MGM is still planning on moving forward with the project, but they are going to have to hire a new director to take it on. There’s no word on who that director might be, though. I was actually really looking forward to seeing Blomkamp’s vision of this film as his goal was to capture the same spirit of the original. He wanted to direct the sequel as if Verhoeven had directed it right after RoboCop. Neumeier previously revealed:

“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.”

The filmmaker also previously confirmed that the new movie will bring back the original RoboCop suit.

With Blomkamp off the project, who would you like to see take over for him in the director’s chair?