Update on ROBOCOP RETURNS - Neill Blomkamp Wants It To Be "Proper Verhoeven"
Last year it was announced that Neill Blomkamp would be would be directing a RoboCop sequel called RoboCop Returns and it is going to be a direct sequel to the original 1987 Paul Verhoeven-directed 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 the upcoming Terminator film for James Cameron and Tim Miller, is rewriting the script that Neumeier and Miner wrote years ago which was originally a planned sequel to Verhoeven’s hit.
Neumeier has now offered up an update on the film. First he talked about how the project came about with HN Entertainment:
“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.”
The writer goes on to say that Blomkamp’s goal is to capture the same spirit of the original film. In fact, he wants to direct the sequel as if Verhoeven had directed it right after RoboCop:
“Neill Blomkamp and his screenwriter Justin Rhodes have done a pass on the script we were writing on and they’re doing another one. 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.”
I’m sure that fans of the original film will be happy to hear that. That’s the kind of RoboCop movie that I want to see! I want to see that hardcore grittiness make a comeback.
Blomkamp also has said in the past that he would like to get Peter Weller back on board in some way. When asked about his possible involvement, Neumeier said:
“As you know from the press that Neill Blomkamp wants to bring back Peter Weller back and what you get when you do that if you use the DNA of the old property in the new is that you get something that shares continuity and fans can embrace the brand. It’s not too different and what you realize is that when I was sitting and writing 30 years later, rewriting, the second draft of our sequel to RoboCop, which was called The Corporate Wars at the time and is now called RoboCop Returns. I kept hearing Peter’s voice, you know, Peter adds a lot to that.”
RoboCop Returns has yet to get the greenlight, so there’s a chance that it might not happen, but I really hope that it does!