After losing Neill Blomkamp to another horror endeavor, MGM and Orion have found their RoboCop Returns director in Abe Forsythe, who directed the excellent Sundance horror-comedy Little Monsters, now streaming on Hulu.
The project is an official 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, adds TheWrap, who also broke the news.
Justin Rhodes, who wrote the heartfelt and surprisingly fun Terminator: Dark Fate, rewrote Neumeier and Miner’s script, with the two original writers serving as producer and executive producer. Forsythe will also rewrite the script.
RoboCop followed a Detroit police officer (Peter Weller) who is shot and killed, but is resurrected as an android police officer by a powerful corporation. The film earned three Oscar nominations and winning one for its special effects while earning praise for its satire and exploration of capitalism, law enforcement and corruption.
An incredibly bland remake was released in 2014 with Joel Kinnaman taking over the title role from Weller. Being that RoboCop Returns is canon, could we see Weller back as RoboCop in some capacity?