It appears that the writer of the original Robocop is not only excited about the prospect of another film – he wants to direct! We get the scoop from our friends at MTV:
“I would love to make a ‘Robocop’ movie,” declared Ed Neumeier, the original screenwriter of Paul Verhoeven’s classic before comic creator Frank Miller took over scripting reigns for the film’s sequels. If police officer Alex J. Murphy does head back to Hollywood, Neumeier — who went on to write “Starship Troopers” 1 and 2, and is directing the third — promises that he’s the man for the director’s chair. “I actually have a lot of ideas about what we could do with Robocop now,” he told us. “I think he’s a very vital character at the moment.”
While MGM has yet to approach him to work on the project, according to Neumeier, he’s just happy to see his baby back in the spotlight. “Listen, ‘Robocop’ to me is kind of like having a kid. If it keeps going, it’s like ‘Now he’s in grad school. Now he’s got a big job at a Fortune 500 company.’ So that’s cool. They’re going to do a good job on it, I’m sure.”
Robocop was on TV last week and I watched it with great satisfaction. It’s one of the greatest films ever made in my opinion and stands tall on my top 10 list. I’m dead set against a remake, the film is perfect the way it is and I have no desire to see the original bastardized. I would however welcome a sequel, and earnestly hope they can get Peter Weller back on board. To pick up the story of Robocop 20 years on would kick serious ass.
I can see why Ed Neumeier would want to direct this; but I would prefer if he just wrote the film and let Paul Verhoeven back in the saddle. The team up was fantastic the first time out and with luck, magic will strike again. This legendary character still has many more stories to tell and deserves another outstanding film. The second was alright, but a far cry from the first and I still refuse to see the third.
The first Robocop had outstanding actors giving the performances of their lives. It dealt with the problem of corporate power, corruption and the dangers of privatization. Robocop reminded us that in an age of increasing mechanical dependancy, we must struggle at times to remember what it is to be human. The film ends with justice being served and Robocop once again sure of who he is; Murphy.
Exactly right Alex. If it was made today they might be able to put in a few fancier special effects (not that RoboCop’s effects are bad… but that would be their justification). Plus they’d have more accurate high tech gadgetry.
Plus some stupid company like Sony or Nokia would pay to have their name put on RoboCop, so we would have to remove all negative connotations about the company behind creating roboCop. Thus killing every meaningful purpose of the original.
Gotta agree with Doug. Robocop is one of my all-time favorite films, but the problem with today is that the filmmakers couldn’t do the sub-text based on the Reagan era today. No one wants to fund an blockbuster type movie that will be anything but mindless entertainment. There’s too much at risk these days. If the original Robocop was made today it wouldn’t be the same movie at all.
I loved reading that article Doug, you share my feelings on RoboCop exactly. The first is an absolutely fantastic film, even by todays standards. The second was good, but not as good. And I’ve never got through watching all of RoboCop 3. That film just makes me sad. It takes a lot of effort to make a movie about RoboCop, which I actually own on DVD and still refuse to watch.
I would be dead against a remake, because the first is still brilliant. A great origin story, and holds up fine today. I’d love to see them do a sequel which picks up 20 years later and continues the story in a quality fashion worthy of the original.
The benefit for continuity there is that you can easily ignore everything about Robo after the first film if you want to, but you can also believe it still happened if you did like it.
Yeah… go on people, make a good RoboCop film again!
it might just be a DTV sequel though. Ed Neumeier just directed Starship Troopers 3, and he might want his hand at another low budget sequel.
Sure, from the orginal writer who wants to direct, I’m all for it.
Bring it on!
A worthy sequel at last, yes please. Screw a remake.It would be difficult though to forget all that jetpack/ thramethrower/ japanese terminator nonsense of the last one.
this is the one movie where i go hey that bad guy is just a dick….not hey its the dad from the 70’s show……and it has my favorite catch line of all time
” ILL BUY THAT FOR A DOLLAR”