Written by Nicole Pedersen
See folks? Rumors really do come true! A few weeks ago we told you that Darren Aronofsky, director of the critical fave "Requiem for a Dream," was in the running to direct the reboot of the "Robocop" franchise at MGM. Excitement ensued. A classic 80s film in the hands of a visionary young director? Sounded promising, right?

MGM thought so too. The studio announced today that they have indeed retained the services of Mr. Aronofsky as well as those of David Self ("Road to Perdition") who will craft the latest "Robocop" screenplay. With Self and Aronofsky on board, the new "Robocop" has been fast-tracked by the studio (sorry "Red Dawn" fans) and is expected to see release sometime in 2010.

"Robocop" is being produced by Phoenix Pictures, whose CEO Mike Medavoy said this about his new hires:

"After making the first 'Robocop' at Orion more than 20 years ago, I'm thrilled to be helping to return this character to the screen with our partners at MGM and through the eyes of Darren Aronofsky and David Self."

I think that MGM has an opportunity to make something relatively unique here – a big budget studio film, featuring an iconic character that is intelligently crafted. "The Dark Knight" says its possible - and that it can also be insanely profitable. Of course there is always the chance that "Robocop" could go horribly wrong and that Aronofsky could lose that patina of 'indie chic' he has sported since "Requiem." Stranger things have happened – I believe that the success of "Robocop" had something to do with Paul Verhoeven believing that "Showgirls" would be a good idea. Just a thought.