Robocop Returnshas lost its director, as helmer Neill Blomkamp confirms he is no longer attached to the sequel. On his official Twitter account, Blomkamp says he is “off” the project, citing a scheduling conflict with what he’s currently working on. “OffRoboCop. I am shooting [a] new horror/thriller and MGM can’t wait,” Blomkamp explains in a tweet. The filmmaker adds that he’s still excited to watch the newRoboCopmovie “in theaters with other fans.” While a new director has yet to be named, it appears the sequel is on the fast track to production, and it’s likely someone else will soon be signed on.
Blomkamp is perhaps best known as the writer and director of the sci-fi movieDistrict 9, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Additionally, the director helmed the sci-fi flicksElysiumandChappie. Blomkamp also came very close torebooting the Alien franchisewhen he developed anAlienssequel for Fox, only for the project to wind up dying in development hell. As his idea was to once again bring back Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, manyAlienfans were disappointed to see it canceled, even starting a petition to save the axed movie. Unfortunately, it appears their efforts were futile.
RoboCop Returnswon’t be the first attempt at reviving the classic franchise. In 2014, Joel Kinnaman, Samuel L. Jackson, and Gary Oldman starred in aremake of the original movie directed by Jose Padilha. While highly profitable, the movie was not quite as well-received as the 1987 classic, and the decision was ultimately made to revive the original series rather than develop a sequel to the reboot. One of the more controversial aspects of the movie was to go easy on the violence with a PG-13 rating, making fans of the original happy to knowRoboCop Returnswill reportedly pursue a hard R-rating.
As of now, there’sno official release date set for the theatrical premiere of RoboCop Returns. If the movie is now on the fast track to production, then we’ll likely see it sometime in 2020. New updates on the project should be forthcoming and a new director is likely to be announced soon. News of Blomkamp’s exit from the project comes to us fromNeill Blomkamp on Twitter.
