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With plans for a new RoboCop film seemingly not advancing, we’re now getting a(nother) RoboCop TV series instead.

Making a movie isn’t easy. Making a good movie, then, is presumably even harder. Making a great RoboCop film though? That has to be close to impossible. While each film in the beloved splatterpunk action franchise contains elements that demand repeat viewings, only the 1987 original is generally considered to be an all-time great. You could argue that audiences and executives been chasing the dragon ever since, looking to replicate the formula that created a genre classic.

That hasn’t stopped plenty of people from trying though. From the original film’s sequels to the 2014 remake, not to mention Neill Blomkamp’s ill-fated RoboCop Returns – a highly-anticipated project that would never come to fruition – nothing has matched the heady blend of graphic violence, sharp satire and earnest charm that Paul Verhoeven’s original possesses.

The “Robocop” reboot series has assembled quite the crew.

The Amazon MGM Studios production now has James Wan attached to executive produce alongside showrunner/writer/EP Peter Ocko, TheWrap has learned. They will be joined by fellow EPs Michael Clear and Rob Hackett for Atomic Monster, with Danielle Bozzone overseeing for Atomic Monster.

The official logline reads: “A giant tech conglomerate collaborates with the local police department to introduce a technologically advanced enforcer to combat rising crime — a police officer who’s part man, part machine.”

The original “RoboCop” movie premiered in 1987 from Orion Pictures (now a subsidiary of Amazon MGM Studios). It was directed by Paul Verhoeven, written by co-creators Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner and starred Peter Weller in the titular role.

That was followed by “RoboCop 2” in 1990, “RoboCop 3” in 1993 and an official remake also called “RoboCop” in 2014 starring Joel Kinnaman. In addition to the films,...

Back in 2022, Amazon closed an $8.5 billion acquisition of the film studio MGM, giving them ownership of the studio’s thousands of films and TV shows. Last year, we heard that the six MGM properties Amazon was most interested in doing something with were Poltergeist, Stargate, The Thomas Crown Affair, Legally Blonde, Rocky, and RoboCop… and we’ve recently heard updates on some of those projects, with a Poltergeist TV series finding its showrunners and Michael B. Jordan signing on to both direct and star in a new version of The Thomas Crown Affair. Now Deadline has broken the news that a new RoboCop TV series is moving forward and has James Wan, the director of such films as Saw, The Conjuring, and Aquaman, on board as executive producer.

Peter Ocko (Lodge 49) has been hired to write, executive produce, and serve as showrunner on the potential series. Wan, Michael Clear, and...

Left to right: Everything Everywhere All At Once (A24), Starship Troopers (TriStar Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images), Enter The Dragon ((Photo by Warner Brothers/Getty Images), The Matrix (Photo by Warner Brothers/Getty Images)Graphic: The A.V. Club

The recent release of Thelma, a film that subverts the conventions of action films,...

RoboCop became both a blockbuster and a controversial critical darling upon its release in 1987 due to a mix of jet black humor and as subtle as a jackhammer social commentary sticking a perfect landing. Its success was a surprise to an industry that had looked at Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner’s original script with its simplistic one-word comic book title and assumed it was fated to be a high-concept stinker.

The 2023 RoboDoc documentary miniseries does a terrific job of chronicling the effort it took to turn RoboCop into both a box office win and an enduring cult masterpiece with a quick and funny format that makes it accessible to modern fans. The truly hardcore might not learn many new details from the four-hour presentation, available on Tubi, but one thing the documentary does do, especially after the Catholic satire of Benedetta, is make it clear how much of RoboCop...

It is 36 years since RoboCop blasted its way onto UK cinema screens and made a splash of epic, gruesome, proportions. With that a cult-like following is born and the film’s influence cannot be overstated.

RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop is an incredibly methodical ‘making of’ documentary that has now set the standard and an exceptionally high one, no less. It comes as no surprise with the success of their recent projects which include Hollywood Dreams & Nightmares: The Robert Englund Story and Pennywise: The Story of It.

The documentary oozes passion and is testament to its directors Christopher Griffiths and Eastwood Allen clear love for the film in a project that has been over seven years in the making.

This four part series spans over more than four hours is nothing short of a triumph, it is forensic in its analysis and brings to life the chaos of the RoboCop shoot and does so brilliantly.

When you think of Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 ultraviolent crime thriller- Robocop (watch it Here)- does your brain jump straight to horror? After all, what makes a horror film? Or better yet, what made a horror film in the 80s? If you ask me, a dark sci-fi style noir film with brutal kills, body horror, excessive drugs, and, of course, even some Tna- is well suited to be on our list of iconic horror films that deserve to be praised and properly deconstructed.

Over the years, Robocop has grown to be a rather difficult franchise to get ahold of. With multiple sequels, a failed remake, and a recent hit video game- it’s safe to say that the movie that spawned such a vast catalogue must be incredibly interesting. And I’m happy to say- that it is. Robocop is a movie that packs action, suspense, political satire, Identity crisis,...

MGM continues to develop "RoboCop Returns" as a direct sequel to director Paul Verhoeven's original, satirical, ultra-violent "RoboCop" (1987) feature with director Abe Forsythe ("Little Monsters") on board to rewrite a screenplay by Justin Rhodes ("Terminator: Dark Fate"), Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner:

"In the original film, Detroit is on the verge of collapse due to financial mismanagement and a high crime rate. The city signs a deal with the mega-corporation 'Omni Consumer Products' (Ocp) to run Detroit's police department in exchange for letting Ocp rebuild run-down sections of the city into a high-end utopia. Senior Vice President 'Dick Jones' demonstrates a new law enforcement robot, 'Ed-209'.

"However, the robot malfunctions, killing an executive. 'Bob Morton', an ambitious executive, uses the opportunity to introduce his own experimental cyborg design, 'RoboCop'. The chairman, aka 'The Old Man' is dismayed at the Ed-209 failure and approves Morton's plan,...

The recent trend of docu-feature series exploring the history of popular IPs is gradually becoming popular among dedicated fans due to how genuinely interesting and informative they can be. The most recently released among such ventures is the first season of Robodoc: The Creation of Robocop, a Screambox original, which takes a look back at the excruciating production process, development, and brainstorming that went behind the 1987 sci-fi classic Robocop. The movie is still considered one of the topmost sci-fi pieces ever released by Western media, which was not only topical and philosophical but it has also proven itself to be timeless, at least in the current era more than ever.

The four one-hour-long episodes, which include excerpts from detailed narrations of the chief creator duo Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner, director Paul Verhoeven, the Robocop actor Peter Weller himself, cinematographer Josh Vacano, production designer Phil Tippett, William Sandell (Rob Bottin...

On the road to Halloween, Screambox is unleashing another massive wave of spooky streaming here in September 2023, and we’ve got the full lineup for you today.

First up, a horde of cretaceous creatures attack a coastal town on prom night in Crabs! The indie horror-comedy is streaming exclusively on Screambox right now.

Ahead of Netflix’s new series “Gamera: Rebirth” on September 7, the Gamera Collection stomps onto Screambox on September 4. All 12 films in the giant monster movie franchise are included, from the classic Gamera: The Giant Monster to the influential ’90s reboot, Gamera: Guardian of the Universe, and the latest installment, Gamera the Brave.

Screambox delves into The History of Metal and Horror on September 15. Explore how the two genres have intersected with horror icons like John Carpenter, Sid Haig, Bill Moseley, Kane Hodder, Doug Bradley, and Tom Savini alongside such metal luminaries as Rob Zombie, Kirk Hammett, Dave Mustaine,...

Screambox Original four-part docuseries RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop will premiere on August 29, Bloody Disgusting is excited to announce this week. New hour-long episodes will follow weekly through September 19 on the Bd-powered Screambox.

Featuring exclusive insight from stars Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Ronny Cox, Ray Wise, and Kurtwood Smith, director Paul Verhoeven, writers Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner, special effects legend Phil Tippett, and more, RoboDoc offers an in-depth look at the making and impact of the trailblazing 1987 dystopian action classic.

Part man, part machine, all cop, RoboCop burst onto the scene as the cinematic landscape began to shift and artificial intelligence was capturing the public’s imagination. The boundary-pushing film spawned an unlikely franchise that includes two sequels, an animated series, and a Hollywood remake, along with comic books, video games, toys, and merchandise galore.

RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop is co-directed by Chris Griffiths and Eastwood Allen and produced by Gary Smart.

When Neill Blomkamp was named the director of Sony‘s Gran Turismo, fans of the time-honored racing video game franchise rejoiced. Blomkamp is known for his unique approach to filmmaking, bringing style, eye-popping visuals, and spectacle to the playing field. With an inspiring story at its foundation, Gran Turismo could become a stand-out for racing cinema in a time when movies like Ford v Ferrari, Michael Mann’s Ferrari, and the Fast and the Furious franchise offer thrills on and off the track. Imagine Blomkamp applying that level of care and detail to Robocop, a fan-favorite franchise in dire need of a reboot or sequel worth celebrating. While speaking with Blomkamp for Gran Turismo, we asked the filmmaker about the defunct Robocop Returns, a would-be sequel to Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 original.

While talking to Blomkamp about his approach to Robocop Returns, he said his version would have emulated Verhoeven’s style,...

Intro: There’s a scene, roughly half way through the much maligned Robocop 3, in which the eponymous law enforcer is malfunctioning, battered and bruised, which is almost the perfect metaphor for the franchise at this point. As outlined in our previous video in this series, Robocop 2 may have had its fair share of issues, but alongside the annoying characters and a frustratingly dumbed down hero, it’s actually a pretty decent movie. It was just nowhere near the sequel it could so easily have been. Which leads us to part three, which is, well…Where do we start? Historically, in the wonderful world of movies in which we all often reside, part three’s, and later sequels to popular franchises, have that nagging tendency to Look like they should, but for the most part, this familiarity leads to something so very, very…Wrong! Beverley Hills Cop 3 lost all...

When you’ve managed to catch lightning in a bottle once, with one of the most revered, beloved, exciting, brutal and iconic movies as 1987’s Robocop, how on earth do you follow it up? Well, it appears from revisiting the much maligned sequel for this retrospective, you make it louder, flashier and, well, a Lot dumber. That’s not to say that Robocop 2 is necessarily a bad movie, it’s just that it had some very broad, metallic, shoulders to follow. So, yes folk, we’re traveling back to dystopian Detroit for the sequel to Paul Verhoeven’s classic original to see what the late, great The Empire Strikes Back director, Irvin Kerschner could pull out of the bag for the much anticipated sequel. When trying to replace a director as ‘edgy’ and formidable as Verhoeven it was certainly wise to pick somebody who had, arguably, delivered The greatest...

Step out of your 6000 Sux, stop watching Tj Lazer re-runs, put down that flier from the Home Heart Centre, box up your game of Nukem. That’s right folks, we’re time-traveling to the not too distant future of 2043 Detroit in this episode of Revisited where Paul Verhoeven set his seminal, all time classic sci-fi action epic Robocop. The Dutch director showcases all of his trademark filmmaking skills and a penchant for graphic violence in the movie and it remains an often copied, but never bettered, example of visceral sci-fi filmmaking. Just think of entertainment empires that are now synonymous with the era in which they first emerged and have gained longevity in various forms – for example; Star Wars, Marvel, The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and it’s hard to imagine a mid-budget movie such as Robocop having the same cultural appeal or influence. However, just like its hero,...

MGM continues to develop "RoboCop Returns" as a direct sequel to director Paul Verhoeven's original, satirical, ultra-violent "RoboCop" (1987) feature with director Abe Forsythe ("Little Monsters") on board to rewrite a screenplay by Justin Rhodes ("Terminator: Dark Fate"), Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner:

"In the original film, Detroit is on the verge of collapse due to financial mismanagement and a high crime rate. The city signs a deal with the mega-corporation 'Omni Consumer Products' (Ocp) to run Detroit's police department in exchange for letting Ocp rebuild run-down sections of the city into a high-end utopia. Senior Vice President 'Dick Jones' demonstrates a new law enforcement robot, 'Ed-209'.

"However, the robot malfunctions, killing an executive. 'Bob Morton', an ambitious executive, uses the opportunity to introduce his own experimental cyborg design, 'RoboCop'. The chairman, aka 'The Old Man' is dismayed at the Ed-209 failure and approves Morton's plan,...

Click here to read the full article.

On July 17, 1987, director Paul Verhoeven’s Robocop hit theaters. The Orion Pictures sci-fi actioner went on to gross 53 million that summer and launched a franchise. The Hollywood Reporter’s original review is below:

It’s 1991 and Detroit needs a new sheriff. Even a Magnum-shooting muscleman won’t do. Motown’s taken its murder capital reputation seriously, and things are now way out of control. Normal cops can’t handle it. The new gun brought to town is large, metal, computerized and impregnable … It’s part man/part machine and Robocop can wipe out all in its path.

Similarly, this well-crafted, science-fiction actioner should wipe up massive body counts at the box office for Orion. While those whose tastes don’t include the spectacle of large machines noisily blasting at each other are not likely to be enticed by Robocop, this shocked look at...

Paul Verhoeven’s sophisticated sci-fi fable is rereleased in its original director’s cut, with the gruesome violence and black-comic queasiness restored

Paul Verhoeven’s Dirty-Harry-Frankenstein’s-monster goes clanking and wheezing out into the Detroit streets once more, with his humungous exo-skeleton, thigh-mounted handgun case, killer-marionette walk and the balletically defined 45-degree head-swivels that precede a change in direction. This sci-fi action satire from 1987, wittily scripted by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner, is now rereleased in its original director’s cut, with the gruesome violence and its attendant black-comic queasiness restored.

But the gore was never, for me, entirely the point. RoboCop looks more than ever like Verhoeven’s masterpiece, a classic of 80s Hollywood and apart from everything else a brilliant commentary on the city of Detroit; hi-tech RoboCop is a harbinger of the decline of the automotive industry and the ruin-porn wasteland to come. And America’s automated...

MGM continues to develop "RoboCop Returns" as a direct sequel to director Paul Verhoeven's original, satirical, ultra-violent "RoboCop" (1987) feature with director Abe Forsythe ("Little Monsters") on board to rewrite a screenplay by Justin Rhodes ("Terminator: Dark Fate"), Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner:

"In the original film, Detroit is on the verge of collapse due to financial mismanagement and a high crime rate. The city signs a deal with the mega-corporation 'Omni Consumer Products' (Ocp) to run Detroit's police department in exchange for letting Ocp rebuild run-down sections of the city into a high-end utopia. Senior Vice President 'Dick Jones' demonstrates a new law enforcement robot, 'Ed-209'.

"However, the robot malfunctions, killing an executive. 'Bob Morton', an ambitious executive, uses the opportunity to introduce his own experimental cyborg design, 'RoboCop'. The chairman, aka 'The Old Man' is dismayed at the Ed-209 failure and approves Morton's plan,...

MGM continues to develop "RoboCop Returns" as a direct sequel to director Paul Verhoeven's original, satirical, ultra-violent "RoboCop" (1987) feature with director Abe Forsythe ("Little Monsters") on board to rewrite a screenplay by Justin Rhodes ("Terminator: Dark Fate"), Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner:

"In the original film, Detroit is on the verge of collapse due to financial mismanagement and a high crime rate. The city signs a deal with the mega-corporation 'Omni Consumer Products' (Ocp) to run Detroit's police department in exchange for letting Ocp rebuild run-down sections of the city into a high-end utopia. Senior Vice President 'Dick Jones' demonstrates a new law enforcement robot, 'Ed-209'. 

"However, the robot malfunctions, killing an executive. 'Bob Morton', an ambitious executive, uses the opportunity to introduce his own experimental cyborg design, 'RoboCop'. The chairman, aka 'The Old Man' is dismayed at the Ed-209 failure and approves Morton's plan,...

Arrow Video bumps yet another of its top special edition titles up to 4K Ultra HD, just for home theater enthusiasts after the best and brightest of big screen experiences. The movie looks better than ever, and although the unrated version still packs too much gore overkill for average viewers, we respect the Horror-Comic vibe it was meant to conjure. As sci-fi satire Robo still carries a big stick: Edward Neumeier’s anti-corporate, anti-privatization message comes through loud, clear, and profane.

RoboCop 4K

4K Ultra HD Steelbook

Arrow Video

1987 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date April 12, 2022 / Available from / 49.95

Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O’Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer, Robert DoQui, Ray Wise, Felton Perry, Paul McCrane.

Cinematography: Sol Negrin, Jost Vacano

Production Design: William Sandell

Special Effecs and Makeup: Rob Bottin, Peter Kuran, Rocco Gioffre, Phil Tippett, Harry Walton, Tom St. Amand, Robert Blalack

Film Editor: Frank J. Urioste...

MGM continues to develop "Robocop Returns" as a direct sequel to director Paul Verhoeven's original, satirical, ultra-violent "Robocop" (1987) feature with director Abe Forsythe ("Little Monsters") on board to rewrite a screenplay by Justin Rhodes ("Terminator: Dark Fate"), Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner:

"In the original film, Detroit is on the verge of collapse due to financial mismanagement and a high crime rate. The city signs a deal with the mega-corporation 'Omni Consumer Products' (Ocp) to run Detroit's police department in exchange for letting Ocp rebuild run-down sections of the city into a high-end utopia. Senior Vice President 'Dick Jones' demonstrates a new law enforcement robot, 'Ed-209'.

"However, the robot malfunctions, killing an executive. 'Bob Morton', an ambitious executive, uses the opportunity to introduce his own experimental cyborg design, 'RoboCop'. The chairman, aka 'The Old Man' is dismayed at the Ed-209 failure and approves Morton's plan,...

MGM continues to develop "Robocop Returns" as a direct sequel to director Paul Verhoeven's original, satirical, ultra-violent "Robocop" (1987) feature with director Abe Forsythe ("Little Monsters") on board to rewrite a screenplay by Justin Rhodes ("Terminator: Dark Fate"), Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner:

"In the original film, Detroit is on the verge of collapse due to financial mismanagement and a high crime rate. The city signs a deal with the mega-corporation 'Omni Consumer Products' (Ocp) to run Detroit's police department in exchange for letting Ocp rebuild run-down sections of the city into a high-end utopia. Senior Vice President 'Dick Jones' demonstrates a new law enforcement robot, 'Ed-209'.

"However, the robot malfunctions, killing an executive. 'Bob Morton', an ambitious executive, uses the opportunity to introduce his own experimental cyborg design, 'RoboCop'. The chairman, aka 'The Old Man' is dismayed at the Ed-209 failure and approves Morton's plan,...

The original "RoboCop" was only Paul Verhoeven's second English-language film, but it brought the Dutch director a new level of mainstream success in the U.S. market as his style shifted more toward violent sci-fi blockbusters. When Verhoeven first read Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner's "RoboCop" script, however, he was not so impressed with the concept. In fact, he threw the script in the trash.

"RoboCop" stars Peter Weller as Alex Murphy, a police officer in a dystopian Detroit who suffers torture and death at the hands of a gang, only to be resurrected as a cyborg, "part man, part machine, all cop." Omni Consumer Products (Ocp), a mega-corporation...

The post The RoboCop Script Spent Some Time In Paul Verhoeven's Trash Can appeared first on /Film.

Paul Verhoeven's 1987 film "RoboCop" is the rare film to have feet firmly planted in both the realms of trashy schlock and brilliant cinematic masterpieces. Unabashedly violent, weird, and gory (the film initially received an X rating from the MPAA), "RoboCop" is one of the sharpest satires of Ronald Reagan's America that you will ever find. Verhoeven, with screenwriters Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner, left no dominant trends of the 1980s un-skewered: yuppie culture (Toadies! Cocaine!) insidious branding (Nuke'em!), corporate greed run amok (Ocp owns the cops!), governmental mishandling of crime (Send out military death robots!), and even the standard plot conventions of 1980s B-movies (have you...

The post The High-Concept RoboCop Sequel We'll Never Get To See appeared first on /Film.

A RoboCop prequel focusing on the life of a young Dick Jones is in the works at MGM, according to MovieHole. In a recent interview, original screenwriter Ed Neumeier had a special message for all the kids watching at home, and it wasn’t “stay out of trouble.” RoboCop is coming to TV.

“I’m working at MGM on it,” Neumeier told MovieHole. “With any luck, if MGM is willing, if we can find the partners, if we can get this pilot made, if we can convince a bunch of people.” The spinoff TV show will feature the president of Omni Consumer Products, the Ed-209 law enforcement robot’s biggest cheerleader, but it will have one thing missing. “It has all the cool stuff about RoboCop except no RoboCop,” Neumeier said. “It’s going to be about the evolution of Richard Jones to Dick Jones, the story of Ocp and...

Just because it’s Thanksgiving week here in the states, home media releases don’t get any time off, and we’ve got a brand new batch of titles coming our way tomorrow. Scream Factory is giving us a double dose of horror from 1979 with their new Blu-rays for Dracula (1979) and Prophecy (1979), and for those of you RoboCop fans out there, you’ll definitely want to pick up Arrow Video’s brand new Steelbook release as well.

Other Blu-ray and DVD releases for November 26th include Mary, Don’t Let Go, Shock, First Person Shooter, Eegah, and The Zombie Apocalypse in Apartment 14F.

Don’t Let Go

Detective Jack Radcliff (David Oyelowo) gets a shocking phone call from his recently murdered niece Ashley (Storm Reid). Working together across time, they race to solve her murder before it can happen. Don't Let Go is a classic thriller with a supernatural twist from Blumhouse,...

Earlier this year we passed along the unfortunate news that Chappie and District 9 director Neill Blomkamp was no longer attached to RoboCop Returns. But today we’re hearing via THR that Little Monsters helmer Abe Forsythe has taken up the vacant position of director. Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner are producing and exec producing with […]

The post Robocop Returns Snags Little Monsters Director appeared first on Dread Central.

‘RoboCop.’

Abe Forsythe was six when Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop, which starred Peter Weller as a terminally ill cop turned powerful cyborg, opened in cinemas in 1987.

He was 12 or 13 when he saw the MGM production and it made a lasting impression. So he was thrilled when MGM asked him to write and direct RoboCop Returns, a direct sequel to Verhoeven’s opus.

The Little Monsters and Down Under filmmaker is keen to shoot the film produced by Ed Neumier and Michael Miner, screenwriters of the original, and Atlas Entertainment’s Richard Suckle in Australia, taking advantage of the Location Offset and local crew and cast.

“RoboCop delivered as a smart, futuristic action movie and a social satire and commentary,” Forsythe tells If. “A lot of what it predicted is happening now. One of the exciting things about the property is to continue what the original film did.”

Neumeier and Miner...

After pitting a school teacher and an elementary school class against a petting zoo full of zombies in Little Monsters, filmmaker Abe Forsythe is now turning his attention to "the future of law enforcement."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Abe Forsythe will direct Robocop Returns for MGM. In what will be the fifth film entry in the RoboCop franchise (which also includes several TV series), Robocop Returns is being described as a "direct follow-up" to 1987's RoboCop, which was directed by Paul Verhoeven from a screenplay by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner.

The screenplay for the new film was originally written by Neumeier and Miner, who are producing the new film alongside Atlas Entertainment’s Richard Suckle. Justin Rhodes (co-writer of Terminator: Dark Fate) reportedly wrote the latest draft of the screenplay, which Forsythe will rewrite.

Neill Blomkamp was previously going to direct the new RoboCop film, but this past...

Joseph Baxter Nov 21, 2019

After the exit of Neill Blomkamp, classic franchise revival RoboCop Returns has procured in a director in Little Monsters’ Abe Forsythe.

RoboCop Returns has received yet another lease on life in the form of a new director in Abe Forsythe!

The film, planned as a direct follow-up to the continuity of the classic cinematic RoboCop Trilogy, will move forward at studio MGM with Abe Forsythe, who's been tapped to occupy the director’s chair and rewrite the existing script penned by Justin Rhodes, reports THR. The appointment of Forsythe occurs after the developing revival film endured the exit of its previous director, Neill Blomkamp, back in August after being attached to the picture for a year.

Forsythe, an up-and-coming Australian helmer, made recent impact stateside as the writer/director of Little Monsters, an irreverent zombie-outbreak-themed rom-com movie starring 12 Years a Slave Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o – a film that,...

MGM continues to develop "Robocop Returns" as a direct sequel to director Paul Verhoeven's original, satirical, ultra-violent "Robocop" (1987) feature with director Abe Forsythe ("Little Monsters") on board to rewrite a screenplay by Justin Rhodes ("Terminator: Dark Fate"), Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner:

"In the original film, Detroit is on the verge of collapse due to financial mismanagement and a high crime rate. The city signs a deal with the mega-corporation 'Omni Consumer Products' (Ocp) to run Detroit's police department in exchange for letting Ocp rebuild run-down sections of the city into a high-end utopia. Senior Vice President 'Dick Jones' demonstrates a new law enforcement robot, 'Ed-209'. 

"However, the robot malfunctions, killing an executive. 'Bob Morton', an ambitious executive, uses the opportunity to introduce his own experimental cyborg design, 'RoboCop'. The chairman, aka 'The Old Man' is dismayed at the Ed-209 failure and approves Morton's plan,...

In today’s film news roundup, Adam Driver is honored, Robocop will be reborn and Hola Mexico Film Festival and The Montalbán Theatre are teaming for a screening series for potential Oscar nominees.

Honors

Sffilm has selected Adam Driver as the recipient of the Sffilm award for acting, formerly the Peter J. Owens Award.

Driver, who received an Oscar nomination this year for “BlacKkKlansman,” will be honored at the organization’s annual fundraising celebration honoring achievement in filmmaking craft on Dec. 3 at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts Exhibition Center. Other honorees are Chinoye Chukwu, Marielle Heller and Lulu Wang.

“There are times when a world-class actor takes over the consciousness of the film-loving audience, and 2019 is the year of Adam Driver,” said Sffilm’s Rachel Rosen. “The range and scope of his work this year is just incredible, from the epic scale of “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker...

In further proof that no franchise can ever truly be left alone these days, it looks as though Robocop Returns is back on track. Neill Blomkamp spent years developing a follow-up that was set to act as a direct sequel to Paul Verhoeven’s classic 1987 original, and constantly kept the fans up-to-date with news about the project.

However, much like his proposed Alien sequel, the District 9 and Elysium director ultimately departed Robocop Returns, sending it right back to development hell. It seemed that it would become another one of those reboots that was constantly spoken about without ever getting close to going in front of cameras, but now news has broken that Little Monsters director Abe Forsythe has been hired as Blomkamp’s replacement.

On paper, this seems like a strange hire. After all, Forsythe’s last movie was a critically-acclaimed zombie rom-com led by Lupita Nyong’o, which is...

“Little Monsters” director Abe Forsythe will direct “Robocop Returns” for MGM, an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.

The project is a long-dormant sequel that had been planned by the original 1987 film’s screenwriters Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner, but was canceled when director Paul Verhoeven declined to direct the project and a WGA strike in 1988 followed.

Justin Rhodes, who wrote “Terminator: Dark Fate,” penned the script for “Robocop Returns” with Forsythe rewriting. Neumeier and Miner will serve as producers.

“RoboCop” follows a Detroit police officer who is shot and nearly killed, but is resurrected as an android police officer by a powerful corporation. The film is considered one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all-time, earning three Oscar nominations and winning one for its special effects while earning praise for its satire and exploration of capitalism, law enforcement and corruption.

Also Read: Sorry, 'Joker' Fans: No Sequel...

Dead or alive, Abe Forsythe is coming with Robocop.

MGM has tapped rising filmmaker Forsythe, the helmer of the Lupita Nyong’o zombie comedy Little Monsters, to direct Robocop Returns.

The project is being developed as a direct follow-up to the 1987 movie released by Orion.

Atlas Entertainment’s Richard Suckle, along with Ed Neumier and Michael Miner, the screenwriters of the original film who are considered its co-creators, are producing.

Directed by Paul Verhoeven, Robocop centered on a police officer who, on death’s doorstep, is used as an experiment to create a new type of patrolman, one that is half ...

Dead or alive, Abe Forsythe is coming with Robocop.

MGM has tapped rising filmmaker Forsythe, the helmer of the Lupita Nyong’o zombie comedy Little Monsters, to direct Robocop Returns.

The project is being developed as a direct follow-up to the 1987 movie released by Orion.

Atlas Entertainment’s Richard Suckle, along with Ed Neumier and Michael Miner, the screenwriters of the original film who are considered its co-creators, are producing.

Directed by Paul Verhoeven, Robocop centered on a police officer who, on death’s doorstep, is used as an experiment to create a new type of patrolman, one that is half ...

Extra-special extras adorn this stunning reissue of a modern sci-fi action classic. Paul Verhoeven’s sledgehammer of graphic-novel brutality and wicked political satire (courtesy of a Michael Miner-Ed Neumeier screenplay that should have won awards) hasn’t diminished one iota. We still feel like we’re being subjected to a shockingly ultra-violent entertainment from the future. Both versions are present, along with enough interview extras to make one feel personally involved in the production. Although later entries in the Robo franchise were marketed to children (we have the toys to prove it) this hard-action show expresses an adult-oriented rage against Reagan’s America. The filmmakers could have earned a lot more money making Robo un-political and kid-safe but instead chose to stay true to their radical concept.

Robocop

Blu-ray

Arrow Video Limited Edition Collector’s Set

1987 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 103 min. / Street Date November 26, 2019 / Available from Arrow Academy

Starring: Peter Weller,...

It may have only been ten years since District 9’s box office success and Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture put Neill Blompkamp on Hollywood’s radar in a huge way, but already people are predicting that the filmmaker will struggle to ever reach those heights again after his follow-up features Elysium and Chappie suffered from the law of diminishing returns with both critics and at the box office.

The 39 year-old spent a couple of years developing an Alien sequel that would have seen Sigourney Weaver return to the franchise, but the project was quietly abandoned after the disappointing reaction to Ridley Scott’s Alien: Covenant. Seemingly determined to reboot an iconic 1980’s sci-fi series one way or another though, Blomkamp then started working on what came to be known as RoboCop Returns, with the story reportedly based on a spec script by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner,...

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...

It looks like director Neill Blomkamp’s RoboCop Returns movie is still in development! The movie is going to be a direct sequel to the original 1987 Paul Verhoeven-directed film, and we have a little update to share with you today regarding its status.

The director recently shared a couple of tweets with updates. The first is the the script is still being written. He also teased that the movie will very much honor Verhoeven and his vision of this world.

Script is being written. Going well! Imagine watching Verhoeven do a follow up film https://t.co/QDp5T7cf5L

— Neill Blomkamp (@NeillBlomkamp) June 29, 2019

In the second tweet, which you can see below, the filmmaker confirms that the new movie will bring back the original RoboCop suit, which is sure to get fans excited.

1 million% original https://t.co/1bgDvgMLHd

— Neill Blomkamp (@NeillBlomkamp) June 29, 2019

This movie is based...

Joseph Baxter Jul 1, 2019

Director Neill Blomkamp’s developing RoboCop sequel is confirmed to feature the title character’s original robotic suit.

RoboCop Returns will be, as its title implies, a return to the sci-fi action franchise in classic form, as the latest news on the developing sequel now reveals. Not only will the film pick up from the continuity of director Paul Verhoeven’s iconic original 1987 RoboCop, but its director, Neill Blomkamp, has stated that his sequel will sport the original – never-topped – RoboCop armored exoskeleton suit!

Blomkamp, in a revelatory tweeted reply to a fan's question, proved that RoboCop Returns will live up to its billing in a big way, with his confirmation of the title character’s classic suit, which might just be donned by original star Peter Weller.

1 million% original https://t.co/1bgDvgMLHd

— Neill Blomkamp (@NeillBlomkamp) June 29, 2019

This, of course, is a big deal, since moviegoers’ minds...

District 9 director Neill Blomkamp certainly seems determined to reboot a 1980’s classic one way or another.

The South African filmmaker spent over two years developing Alien: Awakening, a direct sequel to James Cameron’s Aliens that would see Sigourney Weaver reprise the iconic role of Ellen Ripley. However, the project was quietly shelved following the disappointing reception to Ridley Scott’s Prometheus follow-up Alien: Covenant.

Blomkamp then went on to launch experimental short film company Oats Studios, before it was announced last year that he had turned his attention to RoboCop and was rewriting a seemingly long-lost spec script by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner, the duo behind Paul Verhoeven’s classic 1987 original, who also joined the project as executive producers.

Neumeier has praised Blomkamp’s approach in the past, claiming that “his idea is that it should be proper Verhoeven… if Verhoeven had directed a movie right after RoboCop…...

He may not be making that Aliens sequel we’ve all been begging for but Neill Blomkamp (District 9) is most definitely making a sequel to RoboCop, and it’s set to be a follow-up to Paul Verhoeven’s original classic. As we learned last year, Blomkamp is rewriting a script penned by original RoboCop scribes Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner back in […]...

Dressing dolls as a child at her parents’ Wisconsin farm, future costume designer Betty Pecha Madden created stories using clothes. By age 17, her interest in costuming having grown serious via high school plays, she left home upon graduation and went to Chicago to find work in the industry.

Madden clothed rock groups and college nightclub acts to pay the rent, but her sights were set higher, and in 1969 she headed to Las Vegas. There she toiled day and night — days as a host at the Hilton International Hotel, nights designing tuxedos for lounge singers and outfits for showgirls. But it was the functional changes to Hilton’s service uniforms that signaled her future direction: costume design.

Moving to Los Angeles in 1972, Madden got her first Hollywood jobs a few years later and, in 1976, scored a gig for producer Mike Wuergler for “The New Mickey Mouse Club.” The videotaped series allowed...

Ask any sci-fi fan worth their salt and they’ll tell you that a RoboCop movie directed by genre veteran Neill Blomkamp is the stuff of dreams.

Turns out the Powers That Be over at MGM are in the process of making that dream a reality, with RoboCop Returns locked in as the working title. Oh, and it’ll presumably be rated R, so it’s small wonder why Blomkamp’s latest gig is beginning to turn heads and raise eyebrows.

It’s still a ways away, of course, but during a recent interview with Hn Entertainment (h/t ComicBook.com), Ed Neumeier, one of the scribes responsible for the original RoboCop movie of ’87, offered a brief status report on the planned sequel. Essentially, RoboCop Returns rose from the ashes of a “very rough sequel” that began life in 1988. Now, more than 30 years later, it’s about to see the warm light of day.

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,...

Announced last year, Neill Blomkamp is set to direct a sequel to the original RoboCop for MGM, and what’s particularly interesting about the project is that the basis for it is a script that original RoboCop scribes Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner wrote back in the ’80s, which Blomkamp is currently rewriting alongside Justin Rhodes. In RoboCop Returns… Anarchy […]...

Last month it was revealed that MGM was developing a new installment of the Robocop franchise. The upcoming film is be helmed by Neill Blomkamp (District 9) from a script by Justin Rhodes who will be rewriting a screenplay which original Robocop writers Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner had penned decades ago. Titled Robocop Returns, the belated sequel will pick up the story-line from the original film as it... Read More...

Neill Blomkamp is currently in the process of developing his next film project, RoboCop Returns, which 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, will rewrite a script that Neumeier and Miner wrote years ago which was originally a planned sequel to Verhoeven’s hit.

Now Neill Blomkamp is teasing the return of Peter Weller, who played RoboCop in the original film! When a fan asked the question of who should play RoboCop in Blomkamp's sequel, the director himself responded with, "Peter Weller." Here's the Twitter exchange:

Peter Weller

— Neill Blomkamp (@NeillBlomkamp) August 13, 2018

It would be amazing to see Peter Weller return to the role!