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In the most tongue-twist bit of news in recent memory, we are officially getting a Blomkamp robot reboot. District 9 director Neill Blomkamp will helm a new installment in the RoboCop franchise, titled RoboCop Returns (A+ title). Deadline reports the writing team behind the original film, Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner, will produce and executive-produce, respectively, while writer Justin Rhodes—who also penned an upcoming Terminator movie, because woo boy Justin Rhodes loves robot reboots—will retool a sequel script that Neumeier and Miner wrote decades ago that never came to fruition.

The first question is probably whether or not, in the year of our lord 2018, we need a movie that boiled down is about a robot police officer that shoots the shit out of people. The answer is probably, definitely, almost 100% no; the original Paul Verhoeven flick is a badass romp, but very much of its time, as proven by the 2014 non-starter remake starring Joel Kinnaman you already forgot about. The reported plotline does not offer much more in way of an explanation: "Anarchy reigns and the fate of Detroit hangs in the balance as RoboCop makes his triumphant return to fight crime and corruption."

But the film seems to be in enthusiastic hands with Blomkamp, who told Deadline:

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Image via Sony Pictures

“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.”

 

So basically a much more violent Chappie. I'm...strangely all about that.

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Image via Sony
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Image via Sony Pictures