By Neil Blomkamp, District 9 director and man who has proved he’s able to make big, bloody sci-fi, is officially off RoboCop Returns, citing that he’ll be working on a new horror project instead. MGM evidentially won’t wait for him to finish before shooting its fresh continuation of the 1987 original, so that’s that. It’s a shame for sure, as Blomkamp seemed like he would be a really good fit for the project. Who his replacement will be is yet to be announced, though if MGM is going to shoot Returns so soon we’ll probably have that information in the near future.
Off Robocop. I am shooting new horror/thriller and MGM can’t wait/ need to shoot Robocop now. Excited to watch it in theaters with other fans. N
— Neill Blomkamp (@NeillBlomkamp) August 15, 2019
Without Blomkamp, I’m not sure who I’d want to see bring this ultra-gory satire to life. Peter Jackson tapping into some of that Dead Alive energy could be cool, but I think those days are long behind him. It twists my guts to even think of Eli Roth, but seeing him bend RoboCop into some torturous right-wing power fantasy would be pretty bizarre and amusing. Too bad James Wan isn’t free.
Hopefully, we’ll get to hear more about Blomkamp’s horror movie in the near future. That should at least assuage some of the pain.
Neill Blomkamp Is Off RoboCop Sequel; Directing New Horror Film Instead [Screen Rant]
