‘Robocop’ Sequel Coming from Neill Blomkamp, ‘Robocop Returns’

While plans for Neill Blomkamp‘s Alien film came and went (boo, because we really wanted his direct Aliens sequel with grown up Newt), it looks like the filmmaker will be bringing his flavor to another existing science fiction franchise.

It would appear that Bloomkamp, along with original Robocop writers Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner, who will be producing and executive producing the feature, are working on the feature currently titled Robocop Returns.

According to Deadline,  Justin Rhodes (co-writer of Tim Miller‘s The Terminator sequel) is rewriting a script that Neumeier and Miner originally wrote as a direct sequel to Paul Verhoeven‘s 1987 film. This script reportedly picks up right after the end of the first film.

Blomkamp told Deadline:

“The original definitely had a massive effect on me as a kid. I loved it then and it remains a classic in the end of 20th Century sci-fi catalog, with real meaning under the surface. Hopefully that is something we can get closer to in making of a sequel. That is my goal here. What I connected to as a kid has evolved over time.

At first, the consumerism, materialism and Reaganomics, that ’80s theme of America on steroids, came through most strongly. But As I’ve gotten older, the part that really resonated with me is identity, and the search for identity. As long as the human component is there, a good story can work in any time period, it’s not locked into a specific place in history.

What’s so cool about RoboCop is that like good Westerns, sci-fi films and dramas, the human connection is really important to a story well told. What draws me now is someone searching for their lost identity, taken away at the hands of people who are benefiting from it, and seeing his memory jogged by events. That is most captivating. The other thing I am excited by is the chance to work again with Justin Rhodes. He has added elements that are pretty awesome, to a sequel that was set in the world of Verhoeven.

This is a movie I would love to watch.”