We found out a while back that MGM was working on a direct sequel to to Paul Verhoeven's original
Robocop with Neill Blomkamp on board to direct, but the
District 9 filmmaker recently revealed that he'd stepped away from the project. Now, though,
Robocop Returns is back on track with a new director at the helm.
According to
THR, the studio has tapped up-and-coming
Little Monsters director Abe Forsythe to take over from Blomkamp. He will also pen a rewrite of the script from Justin Rhodes (
Terminator: Dark Fate) and the original film's scribes Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner.
Robocop Returns is still being developed as a follow-up to Verhoeven's film and not a sequel to the 2014 reboot with Joe Kinnaman, which, while technically well made, toned down the OTT violence, satire and social commentary of the original.
MGM will obviously be hoping that this relaunch fares better at the box office than the
other iconic cyborg's most recent adventure, which was also marketed as a sequel to the original, R-rated installments in a franchise.
What do you guys think? Any interest in another
Robocop movie?