District 9’s Neill Blomkamp To Direct RoboCop Returns

In what has got to be the most unexpected news of the week, Deadline have reported that Neill Blomkamp has been hired by MGM to direct RoboCop Returns, which will be a direct sequel to Paul Verhoeven’s seminal 1987 sci-fi classic, and will not be connected to the 2014 Sony Pictures remake.

Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner, who wrote the original film, penned an early draft of the script for RoboCop Returns, and are also producing. Justin Rhodes, the writer of the upcoming Terminator sequel, rewrote their script into its current and presumably final draft. MGM executive Adam Rosenberg will also oversee the production of the film, although we don’t yet know when we can expect shooting to commence. We also don’t know much about the plot, because the Deadline article only offered the following vague information as to what it will about:

Anarchy reigns and the fate of Detroit hangs in the balance as RoboCop makes his triumphant return to fight crime and corruption.

Blomkamp made a name for himself with the short Alive in Joburg, before hitting the big time with his Oscar nominated sci-fi drama District 9, which was produced by Peter Jackson. He followed this with the acclaimed Elysium, before hitting a career low with the critically panned Chappie. However, his recent short films The Escape and Rakka were both big hits on YouTube, so it looks like RoboCop Returns will be in safe hands. Blomkamp confirmed to Deadline that he was very fond of Verhoeven’s original, as its sociopolitical themes resonated strongly with him, as he explained in great detail throughout the Deadline article.

Released in 1987 by Orion Pictures, RoboCop was briefly slapped with an X rating from the MPAA, before being edited to an R certificate so that it could receive a wide release. It starred Peter Weller as Officer Alex J. Murphy, who was murdered by a gang of violent criminals before being resurrected as the titular crime-fighting cyborg. The film went on to receive two Oscar nominations, and earned $53 million worldwide. It was followed by several sequels, the first of which was directed by The Empire Strikes Back’s Irvin Kershner. Seeing as RoboCop Returns will be a direct sequel to the first film, it seems like there is a strong possibility of Weller returning as Murphy.

It should also be noted that MGM no longer distributes films on their own, meaning that they will likely either co-distribute RoboCop Returns with a larger studio, or simply serve as a production company and sell the film to another studio to act as the sole distributor. Either way, we should be hearing more about RoboCop Returns in the coming weeks.