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MGM continues to develop "RoboCop Returns" as a direct sequel TV series, to director Paul Verhoeven's 1987 satirical, ultra-violent "RoboCop" feature, with Peter Ocko attached to write, executive produce and show run the new series, with James Wan also executive producing, for exclusive streaming on Amazon Prime Video:

"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...

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 franchise kicked off in 1987, and while neither the sequels nor 2014's reboot managed to live up to that cult classic, interest in the franchise among fans remains high. The gloriously ultraviolent RoboCop: Rogue City video game is proof of that!

Today, Deadline (via SFFGazette.com) brings word that Amazon MGM Studios' planned TV series is taking shape with the addition of Peter Ocko (Lodge 49) as writer, executive producer and showrunner on the "potential" series.

Aquaman and The Conjuring helmer James Wan is also on board to executive produce. Michael Clear, Rob Hackett, and Danielle Bozzone will be overseeing the show on behalf of Wan's Atomic Monster banner.

According to the trade, "The series will follow the premise of the films, focusing on a giant tech conglomerate which collaborates with the local police department to introduce a technologically advanced enforcer to combat rising crime - a police officer who’s part man,...

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Irony, thy name is Amazon. Long before Iron Man ever arrived on the scene in his fancy metal suit and arsenal of deadly weapons, director Paul Verhoeven had already perfected the art of lampooning America's obsession with hyper-militarized heroes acting as agents of the state with "RoboCop." Action fans ought to be well familiar with how the 1987 classic had one of the first (and arguably final) words on the rise of the police state in modern society in modern genre fiction, telling the story of a sinister mega-conglomerate named (what else?) Omni Consumer Products violently spearheading the newest technological horror: taking a dead cop killed in the line of duty, resurrecting him in the disturbing "body" of a metallic droid, arming it to the teeth, and setting it loose upon the streets of a futuristic Detroit. What could possibly go wrong!

It’s now been ten years since the most recent installment in the RoboCop franchise, that film of course being the 2014 remake, but the property certainly hasn’t gone anywhere in the years since. For starters, video game RoboCop: Rogue City released last year, and the comprehensive documentary series RoboDoc was released onto Screambox last year as well.

Deadline now reports today that Amazon MGM Studios is moving forward with their planned RoboCop television series, with horror master James Wan on board to executive produce.

Wan will produce through his label Atomic Monster.

Peter Ocko (Lodge 49) has also been brought on board as the writer, executive producer and showrunner on the project, which we originally heard rumblings about back in 2023.

Deadline details, “The series will follow the premise of the films, focusing on a giant tech conglomerate which collaborates with the local police department to introduce a technologically advanced enforcer...

Think about it for a moment, the Dceu’s Zack Snyder is the perfect person to direct a RoboCop reboot movie. Neill Blomkamp’s Departure from RoboCop Returns Using Twitter, director Neill Blomkamp announced his departure from RoboCop Returns in 2019. It was news that disappointed fans, especially since Blomkamp also lost out on an Aliens film a little while back. […]

Why Zack Snyder is the Only Director Who Can Save RoboCop Written by Sergio Pereira for Fortress of Solitude...

MGM continues to develop "RoboCop Returns" as a direct sequel to director Paul Verhoeven's 1987 satirical, ultra-violent "RoboCop" feature with writer/director Abe Forsythe ("Little Monsters") on board for exclusive streaming on Amazon Prime Video:

"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, to Jones's anger.

"On...

Neill Blomkamp will follow the success of Gran Turismo with Alpha, starring Aaron Paul as an FBI agent hunting a prison inmate turned into an apex predator.

Neill Blomkamp hasn’t had a lot of luck with getting projects to the screen in the last decade. Plenty of ink has been spilled about his aborted take on Alien 5, but there’s also RoboCop Returns, the Halo film (although that project’s demise led directly to District 9) and, dare we say it, District 10.

The last project on that list may yet happen, some day. Blomkamp began talking about a sequel to his beloved science fiction movie back in 2021, with star Sharlto Copley adding a couple of years ago that it was still at least a year away from shooting. We’re now two years on and there’s still no sign of the film coming together.

Part of the...

MGM continues to develop "RoboCop Returns" as a direct sequel to director Paul Verhoeven's 1987 satirical, ultra-violent "RoboCop" feature with writer/director Abe Forsythe ("Little Monsters") on board for exclusive streaming on Amazon Prime Video:

"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, to Jones's anger.

"On...

MGM continues to develop "RoboCop Returns" as a direct sequel to director Paul Verhoeven's 1987 satirical, ultra-violent "RoboCop" feature with writer/director Abe Forsythe ("Little Monsters") on board for exclusive streaming on Amazon Prime Video:

"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, to Jones's anger.

"On...

After the surprise success of District 9 in 2009, Neill Blomkamp was the new darling of the film industry. The original, intriguing, and thrilling film about aliens stranded on Earth came From the fallout of a failed attempt to get a movie based on the Halo videogame franchise off the ground. The film was nominated for 4 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, legitimizing Blomkamp as an innovative storyteller.

Blomkamp leveraged the success of District 9 to land a much larger budget for his next effort, 2013’s classism sci-fi Elysium.It was met with moderate critical and commercial success. He followed that up with the humbler and more intimate Chappie in 2015, which failed to impress critics or turn a profit, despite a cast with sci-fi pedigree, including Sigourney Weaver.

Though it seemed like the bloom was off the rose for Blomkamp, he had proved himself capable enough to be tied to the iconic Alien franchise,...

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,...

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,...

It’s now been nearly ten years since the most recent installment in the RoboCop franchise, that film of course being the 2014 remake, but the property certainly hasn’t gone anywhere. For starters, new video game RoboCop: Rogue City is coming later this year, and the comprehensive documentary RoboDoc is headed to Screambox this year as well.

Additionally, Deadline reports today that RoboCop is one of the MGM franchises that Amazon is hungry to bring back to life, now that Amazon owns that vast MGM library.

Deadline reports, “For the past year, since the deal closed in March 2022, Amazon Studios has been sifting through MGM’s library, identifying about a dozen initial titles for film and/or TV development, including Robocop, Stargate, Legally Blonde, Fame, Barbershop, The Magnificent Seven, Pink Panther and The Thomas Crown Affair.”

The site’s report continues, “Robocop also is being talked about for both film and TV,...

Last year, 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. Now they need to figure out what to do with all of the properties they own… and in the latest episode of the podcast The Hot Mic, hosted by writer/critic John Rocha and writer/critic/reporter Jeff Sneider, Sneider revealed the six MGM properties that Amazon is most interested in doing something with. These are their top priorities: Stargate, The Thomas Crown Affair, Legally Blonde, Rocky, Poltergeist, and RoboCop.

It’s not surprising to hear that Amazon wants to keep Stargate going, as that franchise already consists of a few films and many seasons of television. Michael B. Jordan has been attached to a new version of The Thomas Crown Affair for a while and Reese Witherspoon is on board to come back for a Legally Blonde 3,...

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,...

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,...

Once a sci-fi wunderkind, Neill Blomkamp’s now more likely known in many a film fan circle for pulling out of almost as many movies as he’s actually directed. After the runaway success of his Best Picture-nominated debut (and all-round instant sci-fi classic) District 9, the South African bobbed from giant tentpole to giant tentpole, never quite finding his footing. Now some ten years on, having flirted with everything from Alien 5 (Ridley Scott killed it) to RoboCop Returns (Blomkamp quit over scheduling problems), he’s turning his back on well-known IP altogether, to forge his own path.

What started with self-funded experimental outfit Oats Studios (their YouTube shorts are a fascinating watch) has now landed at the equally independent Demonic; a back-to-basics possession horror with plenty of Blomkamp’s unique brand of inventive sci-fi sprinkled amongst the usual jumps and bumps. Shot amidst the 2020 pandemic, it’s certainly a new dawn,...

Despite going on to spawn two sequels, a reboot, two animated shows that ran for one season each, a live-action series and a made for TV miniseries, the RoboCop franchise has never come anywhere close to recapturing the magic of Paul Verhoeven’s classic 1987 original, which maintained the delicate balance between R-rated action, dark comedy and biting social satire.

The movie was a critique of commercialism in the first place, and Verhoeven likely had no idea he was launching a multimedia empire that’s still going strong over three decades later. Even though RoboCop Returns remains stuck in development hell after original director Neil Blomkamp departed and was replaced by Abe Forsythe, MGM are still persevering with the property, and they’ve now announced that a prequel series is in the works.

The catch, and a pretty major one at that, is RoboCop won’t be involved at all. Instead,...

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...

Exclusive: Screenwriter and former Defense Intelligence Agency officer, Mitchell Lafortune has inked with APA.

Lafortune, who has served on multiple intelligence deployments to Afghanistan, recently penned Burn Run which turned into Kandahar, repping Gerard Butler’s reteam with his Angel Has Fallen filmmaker Ric Roman Waugh. Kandahar was a notable seller in the recent 2020 virtual Cannes market, as Deadline first told you.

Lafortune has worked on revisions for Butler’s Greenland, Robocop Returns for MGM, Split Second, Manhunt for Solstice, and The Gone World for 20th Century Studios.

Additionally, Lafortune just signed on to adapt the 2019 documentary Last Breath, a suspenseful survival story of deep-sea saturation diving that occurred in 2012 for Gold Circle, as well as an action franchise set in the Middle East for M.B.C. studios.

Earlier this week, Lafortune became attached for the feature adaptation of author Perry O’Brien’s revenge thriller, Fire in The Blood,...

The revolving door of films coming to and leaving Netflix can be a real pain. I’ve often had a cool movie pop up in my recommended list, but when I finally settle down to watch it, I find that it’s already left the service. Fortunately, the upside is that when a beloved but maybe slightly forgotten film appears on the platform, it gets another moment in the spotlight. And today, it’s the turn of one of the best science fiction movies of the 21st Century, as Neill Blomkamp’s District 9 has just been added to Netflix.

This is an action-packed body horror parable inspired by historical events in apartheid-era South Africa. The opening of the movie establishes that aliens have arrived on Earth, parking a giant spaceship over Johannesburg. In an ordinary film, the aliens would uplift us with new technology or simply invade, but here...

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,...

When Neill Blomkamp left the production of “RoboCop Returns,” many fans feared that the long-in-development sequel would just fall apart. However, it appears that MGM isn’t letting the setback impede progress on the sequel, as the studio has now brought in Abe Forsythe to bring ‘RoboCop’ back to the big screen.

Read More: Neill Blomkamp Says He’s Off ‘RoboCop Returns’ & Is Now Directing A New Horror Film

According to THR, MGM has landed on Forsythe, who recently released his horror-comedy “Little Monsters,” as the director of “RoboCop Returns,” which is set to serve as a direct sequel to the 1987 original film directed by Paul Verhoeven.

Continue reading ‘Little Monsters’ Director Abe Forsythe Takes Over For Neill Blomkamp On ‘RoboCop Returns’ at The Playlist.

MGM has landed on a new director to helm their upcoming Robocop sequel, which will serve as a direct sequel to Paul Verhoeven’s original film. Back in August, Neill Blomkamp revealed he had departed Robocop Returns, despite having already put in quite a bit of work on the project. MGM wasn’t eager to give up […]

The post Robocop Returns Finds a New Director appeared first on Cinelinx.

Abe Forsyth will direct Robocop Returns, which makes me want to dance like Lupita Nyong'o. It's a natural progression for the Australian filmmaker, who made an impressive feature debut with his end-of-the-world comedy Down Under, as noted in my Fantastic Fest review. He followed that up with Little Monsters, which gained Hollywood stars Lupita Nyong'o and Josh Gad to go along with Alexander England, yet retained Forsyth's morbid sense of humor in splendid, splattery fashion. (Now streaming on Hulu and reviewed here). Forsyth will write a new screenplay, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which is good news, if all goes as hoped. That would ensure a fresh approach to the Robocop character, who got a stiff, clanky reboot in Robocop (2014). Really, though, a darkly...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

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 ...

Joseph Baxter Oct 24, 2019

Taylor Kitsch will headline Inferno, with Neill Blomkamp attached to direct, showcasing an extraterrestrial murder mystery.

Inferno, not to be confused with Ron Howard’s 2016 Da Vinci Code threequel, is the newest major movie project on the docket of South African sci-fi helmer extraordinaire Neill Blomkamp, who – after letting a pitched Alien 5 project and developing sequel RoboCop Returns slip through his fingers – has been on the hunt for a new feature film ever since his last turn with 2015’s Chappie.

Agc Studios, which is financing the project, has tapped Blomkamp to direct Inferno, announcing the casting of its lead actor, Taylor Kitsch. The studio is describing the project – a murder mystery with an alien creature twist – as a "one-of-a-kind epic sci-fi thriller where nothing is what it seems.” The plot is certainly right up the alley of director Blomkamp, who burst on the scene in 2009 with the allegorical alien sci-fi film,...

Back in August, it was announced, somewhat unceremoniously, that filmmaker Neill Blomkamp had stepped away from the film “RoboCop Returns.” And in that announcement made by the filmmaker on Twitter, he hinted at a new project that he was excited to begin work on. Well, thanks to a new report, we know what that the project is titled “Inferno” and already has a star attached.

Continue reading Taylor Kitsch To Star In Neill Blomkamp’s Upcoming Horror-Thriller ‘Inferno’ at The Playlist.

“District 9” director Neill Blomkamp is set to direct Taylor Kitsch in a sci-fi thriller called “Inferno” for what will be his first feature film since 2015’s “Chappie.”

The news was announced Thursday by chairman and CEO of Agc Studios Stuart Ford, whose company is financing “Inferno,” and production is expected to begin on the film in early 2020.

Like “District 9,” “Elysium” and “Chappie” before it, Blomkamp’s “Inferno” is an original story that examines the uneasy balance between humans and alien life all within a gritty and realistic action film genre.

Also Read: Taylor Kitsch to Star as 'Family-Oriented Drug Dealer' on Drama in the Works at HBO

According to the studio, Kitsch will play a cop who is called to investigate a seemingly ordinary murder in the New Mexico desert. The arrival of the FBI confirms his suspicions that something much bigger — perhaps even extra-terrestrial — is at play.

News Brief: Krypton Cancelled, Robocop Returns Loses Director, Ewan McGregor Reprises Obi-Wan Kenobi in Disney+ Series, and More In brief, new movie news and television show news has broken. Below you will find a succinct rundown on all that news and their most significant segments, distilled down to the most salient information. Movie News Robocop Returns [...]

Continue reading: News Brief: Krypton Cancelled, Robocop 5 Loses Director, Ewan McGregor Reprises Obi-Wan Kenobi in Disney+ Series, & More...

Mike Cecchini Aug 17, 2019

Neill Blomkamp won't direct the new RoboCop sequel after all.

"Dick, I am very disappointed."

This was an unfortunately brief honeymoon. Last year it was announced that Neill Blomkamp had signed on to direct a new RoboCop movie. And not just any new RoboCop movie (and certainly not another dreaded reboot). No, Blomkamp was here to "serve the public trust" and deliver a direct sequel to the first (and classic) RoboCop movie. So, forget about the disappointing (and strange) turns the franchise has taken since 1987 and instead think of how last year's Halloween pretended the other seven sequels and the two ill-advised reboot entries never happened and that's basically the approach RoboCop Returns was going for.

But a mere 13 months later, Blomkamp has had to depart the project because he's shooting "a new horror thriller" and MGM is intent on shooting RoboCop Returns "now." Here's the director's full statement on the subject.

Today brings word that Neill Blomkamp is no longer directing the sequel to 1987’s RoboCop, RoboCop Returns. The news comes from a very reliable source: Blomkamp himself. Here’s what he told his Twitter followers this morning: For a deep dive into this sudden maneuver and what it means for RoboCop Returns moving forward, check out […]

The post Neill Blomkamp No Longer Directing Robocop Returns, Announces New Mystery Flick appeared first on Dread Central.

On the August 15 episode of /Film Daily, /Film editor-in-chief Peter Sciretta is joined by writers Hoai-Tran Bui and Chris Evangelista to discuss the latest film and TV news, including Joker, Star Wars, an Interactive Haunted House movie, RoboCop Returns, and Mindhunter season 2. Opening Banter: Chris talks Rocketman swag. In the News: Ht: A […]

The post Daily Podcast: Are Interactive Movies In Theaters A Good Idea? Joker, Star Wars, RoboCop Returns, & Mindhunter appeared first on /Film.

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...

Neill Blomkamp can’t seem to catch a break. After breaking onto the scene in a big way with his Oscar-nominated film “District 9,” the filmmaker was poised to be one of the next big things. After only moderate success with “Elysium” and “Chappie,” the filmmaker seemed to be ready to move into franchise work with “Alien 5.” Of course, that never happened, though Blomkamp worked on it for a while.

Continue reading Neill Blomkamp Says He’s Off ‘RoboCop Returns’ & Is Now Directing A New Horror Film at The Playlist.

RoboCop Returns is in need of a new commanding officer. More than a year after Neill Blomkamp was announced to direct a new RoboCop movie that would act as a continuation of the first film, he has confirmed that he is no longer the RoboCop Returns director. But Chappie fans can hold onto a sliver of hope: Blomkamp is already […]

The post ‘RoboCop Returns’ Director Neill Blomkamp is Off Project, Directing New Horror Film Instead appeared first on /Film.

Anyone hoping to see what Neill Blomkamp, the director behind such R-rated sci-fi flicks as District 9 and Elysium, would bring to the upcoming Robocop Returns will, unfortunately, have to put those hopes somewhere else, as the director is no longer attached to the project. Blomkamp is currently at work on an original horror/thriller, but with MGM wanting to get the project going that created…...

Remember that new RoboCop movie that Neil “Chappie” Blomkamp was going to direct? Well, it’s still happening. Blomkamp took to social media to give some updates on the film, called RoboCop Returns. According to the filmmaker, the script is still being hammered out. In addition to that, Blomkamp says he definitely plans to use the original RoboCop costume – […]

The post ‘RoboCop Returns’ Will Feature Original RoboCop Suit, Says Director Neil Blomkamp appeared first on /Film.