Neill Blomkamp To Direct New RoboCop Movie. We’ll Buy That For A Dollar!

There was quite a bit of sadness around the net when we all learned that District 9 director Neill Blomkamp wouldn’t be directing an Alien film. This was later confirmed by Ridley Scott whose Alien: Covenant film derailed Blomkamp’s project. Now, the Chappie director has been tapped to bring another nostalgic hero back to the big screen, RoboCop.

Unlike the 2014 reboot, Robocop Returns will serve as a sequel to the original 1987 sci-fi classic instead. Furthermore, the screenplay is being developed from the franchise creators, Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner. The synopsis reads, “Anarchy reigns and the fate of Detroit hangs in the balance as RoboCop makes his triumphant return to fight crime and corruption.”

While Blomkamp’s last film, Chappie, didn’t do so well at the box office, his latest work, a set of self-financed short films by Oats Studios gained a lot of attention from fans on the net. He seems a perfect fit for the film and has mentioned that both District 9 and Elysium were heavily inspired by the original RoboCop film.

“The original definitely had a massive effect on me as a kid. I loved it then and it remains a classic in the end of 20th Century sci-fi catalogue, with real meaning under the surface. Hopefully, that is something we can get closer to in making of a sequel. That is my goal here. What I connected to as a kid has evolved over time.

At first, the consumerism, materialism and Reaganomics, that ’80s theme of America on steroids, came through most strongly. But As I’ve gotten older, the part that really resonated with me is identity and the search for identity. As long as the human component is there, a good story can work in any time period, it’s not locked into a specific place in history. What’s so cool about RoboCop is that like good Westerns, sci-fi films and dramas, the human connection is really important to a story well told.

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 his memory jogged by events. That is most captivating. The other thing I am excited by is the chance to work again with Justin Rhodes. He has added elements that are pretty awesome, to a sequel that was set in the world of Verhoeven. This is a movie I would love to watch.”

We can’t wait to see what the director does with the next instalment in the franchise.