When MGM first announced they were developing a Robocop remake, I was one of the few who thought it had potential. But when I heard they were thinking of making the project in 3D, I lost all hope. This would have probably result in a PG-13 theme park ride on the big screen. I mean, that’s like making a PG-rated Beverly Hills Cop movie.
What some might not remember, RoboCop was originally given an X rating by the MPAA for scenes of “excessive violence.” Paul Verhoeven trimmed blood and gore from the most violent scenes for an R rating, but the X-rated director’s cut was later released by Criterion. I mention this because I want to establish that Robocop was not a kids movie, and was certainly not PG-13. My hopes for the remake have remained dead, until tonight.
The Hollywood Reporter claims that “director Darren Aronofsky among others has recently been in to discuss” the project. For those who don’t know, Aronofsky broke onto the scene with the math thriller Pi, and made a name for himself with the adaptation of Requiem for a Dream. His films impressed top Hollywood brass, and at one point he was hired to develop a reboot of Batman, before Christopher Nolan took over the franchise. His take on Batman was said to be too Dark for Warner Bros’ tastes. His 2006 film The Fountain was one of the best of that year, hailed by critics, but was horribly marketed and made little at the box office (it’s worth noting that it wasn’t an easy sell). He’s currently in post production on The Wrestler which will attempt to do for Pro Wrestling what Rocky did for Boxing (you can read our script review here).
If there is anyone I trust with a reboot of Robocop, it would be Aronofsky. But the news is rather odd considering he’s scheduled to direct Brad Pitt and Mark Wahlberg in The Fighter, based on the real life story of boxer “Irish” Micky Ward. Last I heard the film was scheduled to begin production in September 2008, which might not align with MGM’s hope to have Robocop in theaters by 2010. But can you even imagine what Clint Mansell’s kick ass score action might sound like? Also, Aronofsky has expressed his disdain for CG, which might mean more practical effects and model work.
Discuss: Can you think of a better director to remake Robocop?
July 9th, 2008 at 1:24 am
I would watch absolutely anything Aronofsky put his name on, even if he made the next Epic/Date/Disaster Movie!
I hope if this did happen, Clint Mansell’s “Lux Aeterna” would be used in the trailer…
July 9th, 2008 at 1:29 am
Great news…
but regarding on suggesting directors:
I know everyone would hate me.. but I totally think Michael Bay would be a really great fit for Robocup
2nd choice would be between Wolfgang Peterson/Alex Proyas
July 9th, 2008 at 1:39 am
shora -
kill yourself.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:40 am
As a Robocop fan myself i think the only person who could make this work and rewrite the script is Frank Miller.
Frank Miller wrote some of the early films and he is starting to direct now.
Best choice
July 9th, 2008 at 1:54 am
Chris: I wouldn’t mind Miller writing the script, but I also wouldn’t want a Sin City-stylized Frank Miller version of the film.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:03 am
P.T. Anderson makes gold with anything he touches. I still hope he does MGS though. I’d rather he make that. We need a good video game movie.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:16 am
Aranofky’s version would be a fucking trip to see. I love that guys work.
Anyone else I could think of to take on something like this? It would either be Zack Snyder, Edgar Wright, James McTeigue, Fincher, or even Michael Mann.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:20 am
Chris Nolan could make a Robocop reboot work. But, since that won’t happen and it is becoming somewhat of a copout to drop his name for everything these days, how about…
- Martin Campbell: he’s rebooted the James Bond franchise, not once, but twice! (GoldenEye and Casino Royale) He knows how to reinvigorate people’s interest in a fledging series. There’s some twisted scenes in CR too, what with the ball torture scene.. I just don’t know how satirical and gorey he would go for Robocop though.
- Sam Raimi: his love of tongue-in-cheek B grade horror and his ability to handle action in megablockbusters (Spiderman) would make him ideal, and probably closest to the Verhoven originals.
- Robert Rodriquez
- John Favareu: Iron Man work, as in the combination of practical and CG work, could make him useful. This could just be his chance to go darker and more twisted.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:21 am
@ Peter
A script by him will give this film a massive boost of his name alone.
I was watching Robocop 4 the other day which he wrote, it was a good one for him at the begining of his movie career.
Directing i think he wont make it a Sin City Style more to what it looked and felt like when he was writing them.
But i think he wont do it even if he was asked.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:53 am
Aronofsky or Miller both sound fucking perfect.
July 9th, 2008 at 3:04 am
More importantly, when are they going to start the remake of Transformers? I mean, come on already!!
July 9th, 2008 at 4:47 am
THIS GEEK IS BANGING RAHCEL WEISZ?!?!?! WHAT A JOKE, I KNOW ITS NOT FOR HIS LOOKS THATS FOR SURE. HE LOOKS LIKE A KID ACTOR WHO USED TO PLAY A NERD!
July 9th, 2008 at 4:52 am
Why are they remaking a great movie? Remake something that’s bad. Remake the robocop 2 and 3 why don’t ya. This screams failure even if it’s a respected director at the helm. That don’t matter.
July 9th, 2008 at 5:05 am
eez ok get of michel bay’s back already hes not joel schumacker ok at least his movies are decent and anjoyable, he always delivers on action which is good cuz sometimes thats all i want
July 9th, 2008 at 5:24 am
Brett Ratner :-)
July 9th, 2008 at 5:56 am
Peter, in what sense would you consider “The Fountain” a critical success? It has a pretty dismal rating on RT, and most people who gave it negative reviews gave it EXTREMELY negative reviews. They HATED it. And rightfully so, because its a terrible movie.
July 9th, 2008 at 6:00 am
uwe boll? this could be the break he needs. hahaha
July 9th, 2008 at 6:59 am
What about having Ed Neumeier write it and Paul Verhoeven direct? That seems like the surest way to make a great RoboCop reboot/sequel.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:07 am
Funny… I think “The Fountain” is one of the best movies ever.
A thinking man’s (or woman) love story.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:12 am
Some of you are idiots.
PTA and Aronofsky for ROBOCOP?!
C’mon! They work with Daniel Day Lewis and make films like Pi! Not Robocop!
Get a good action director with a cool sense of style. The best notion thus far has been Martin Campbell, but I think that after Quantum Of Solace stuff, he has a project in the works with The Departed writer William Monahan and Mel Gibson (his return to acting).
But, I read that on ComingSoon.net months ago.
July 9th, 2008 at 7:23 am
Hands down, Woody Allen is the guy for this project!!
July 9th, 2008 at 7:26 am
Uhm, Campbell isn’t connected to Quantum of Solace .. but anyway.
My favorite choices for a Robocop-Reboot (if they really really really have to do it) are:
Michael Mann, Joe Carnahan & John Woo (yeah, I know … but without those white doves)
July 9th, 2008 at 7:54 am
Sam Raimi is the right answer. The right stylization and sense of humor to pull it off right. Give Campbell a role and run with it.
Alex Proyas - I, Robot
Darren Aronofsky - Robocop
This is a trend I’d rather not see continue. It’s a nice payday for these guys, but I’d rather have them keep their edge with what got them here.
July 9th, 2008 at 8:20 am
Vapor,
Pretty much. One of my favorite films of last year.
July 9th, 2008 at 8:36 am
This would be….perfect.
July 9th, 2008 at 8:48 am
The FOUNTAIN IS A TERRIBLE FILM. THE DIRECTOR GOES OVERBOARD WITH A NONSENSICAL FILM THAT , ALTHOUGH ABUNDANT IN DETAIL EARLY IN THE FILM, AT THE END HE GIVES UP , OR SO IT SEEMS THAT THE MONEY RAN OUT, AND HE JUST ENDED IT. VERY POOR. SCORES A 3.8/10.
REQUIEM IS HIS MATERPIECE…
July 9th, 2008 at 8:49 am
MEL GIBSON SHOULD DIRECT ROBOCOP, HE WOULD MAKE IT REAL. BUT HE IS IN THE DOGHOUSE…
July 9th, 2008 at 8:57 am
I’d be content even if Darren Aronofsky were just producing.
July 9th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Michael Mann
hahhaha just kidding
he’s perfect, it’s going to be dark, sick, twisted and sadistic
Only person that would come close to making an awesome robocop movie would be Fincher
but the BEST director for this
ALEJANDRO JODOROWSKY!
July 9th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Paul Verhoeven is the ONLY person who could direct this without loosing that warm tingly sensation we all felt the first time we saw Robo. I also despise it whenever people, i.e. peter: “but I also wouldn’t want a Sin City-stylized Frank Miller version of the film.”. What? Like that’s the only way Miller can direct? You forget that Miller wrote the original scripts to Robocop 2 and 3, albeit they were butchered by the studio. The scripts were later lranslated into comic book form via AVATAR PRESS(2003). Millers original script was epic beyond words for Robocop. If they are going to restart the franchise I think they should use Miller’s scripts.
July 9th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Here’s an idea for a director: Paul Verhoeven… he’s still alive you know, and he still kicks ass in every possible way. Also, scratch the remake, make a RoboCop 4 (or 5 if you consider Prime Directives to be 4)
July 9th, 2008 at 9:57 am
With a good director and no 3D I may be interested in a Robcop
remake/reboot. If it goes down the path of “We’ll make it PG-13″ I’ll
completely write it off. A rated R movie doesn’t keep out the teens
it didn’t keep ud out when I was a teen and it definitely doesn’t
keep them out now.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Jenbot,
Alejandro Jodorowsky doing Robocop would be nothing short of astounding. Maybe he could somehow tie it into his Sons of El Topo project…
July 9th, 2008 at 10:26 am
I have to agree with “question mark”, Hailed?
While I personally LOVE the Fountain(the films poster is above my computer) it maintains a 26% from the cream-of-the-crop on RT…. and that’s even lower than Southland Tales CotC RT score.
So in what way could that be deemed “hailed by the critics”?
July 9th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Robocop is a classic that should not be remade. If he wanted to do a sequel, I could understand. That first film is a masterpiece.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:36 am
Gajonka,
I hope your house burns down with you in it. Your ALL CAPS shit needs to stop.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:44 am
i think clint mansell’s action score would sound like….
the score to Sahara.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:45 am
Peter, while your love for The Fountain is known, it was not a critical success. It was a critical and commercial flop.
While I like Aronofsky as well, I also think The Fountain was just abysmal. It was like a bad Outer Limits episode. Maybe even that’s overstating it. It just… BAD.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Wow Galdersorg, I did not know that. Where can I find these scripts on the web?
July 9th, 2008 at 11:13 am
I have to agree with “question mark”, Hailed?
While I personally LOVE the Fountain(the films poster is above my computer) it maintains a 26% from the cream-of-the-crop on RT…. and that’s lower than Southland Tales CotC RT score.
So in what way could that be deemed “hailed by the critics”?
July 9th, 2008 at 11:13 am
In what world was The Fountain hailed by critics?
The original Robocop was so good and relatively recent (20 yrs). I have a feeling, even with Aronofsky, who is an inspired choice, this will only disappoint.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Verhoven’s ROBOCOP worked mainly because of the time it was made (repressive 1980’s), and the fact that Verhoven had something to prove in the genre of Science Fiction , a genre he was not known to work in, but always wanted to dabble in (the same thing holds true for Irving Kershner who directed The Empires Strikes Back.) I would think hollywood would need to find another director like those two, to make a Robocop sequel work. Find an accomplished ‘dramatic film’ director with a desire to work in SciFi. This way they can bring something to table that has not been seen before.
Right off the top of my head, David Cronenberg and maybe Jon Jones.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:34 am
i’d see this as a step backwards for arranofsky. he’s the type of guy american cinema needs to continue making original films. we’re already in the eye of the ’superhero-storm’, and it won’t be letting up anytime soon. so i’ve always thought of people like him as an intelligent reprieve from all the fun films - not that i don’t love them.
robocop doesn’t have the same layers as a story like batman, it’s basically just another typical resurection story: guy dies, comes back and struggles with his new reality, vows to take revenge with a set of morals intact.
arranofsky can do better.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:54 am
guns action and gore ryuhei kitamura
July 9th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Meli, an R rating doesn’t keep the teens out, but it sure keeps a good chunk of their MONEY out of the studios’ pockets — by sending it to the studio who made whatever PG movie is running at the same time.
Of course this will be a PG13. And PG13 movies can get pretty intense these days; you just won’t get the word “fuck” every other minute.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
hey peter, i found this new promo flyer and poster image:
http://robocoparchive.com/forum/rc2010-1.jpg
http://robocoparchive.com/forum/rc2010-1.jpg
July 9th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
oh and some cg rendering:
http://features-temp.cgsociety.org/gallerycrits/23885/23885_1178594434_large.jpg
http://sebleg.free.fr/2007/roboclay.jpg
July 9th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
I’m anticipating The Fighter, have been for a while, but I’d accept that put on the back burner for an Aronofsky-helmed Robocop. Though, I’d rather he do both (as any irrational fan should feel).
July 9th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
@Gordon - I’m not going to say you don’t make a valid point
because sure some theaters actually do ID for R movies.
However, I’m going to play the stubborn card and say no matter
how much you push the PG-13 envelope it’s not same as an R
rating. It has little to do with how many time you say Fuck it’s
more on the violence combined with blood spilt. I doubt you
could still have a scene like in Robocop when they’re shooting
pieces of him off and still call that PG-13. I haven’t watched the
movie in a long while, but that scene always made me cringe.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
The writers are being ignored here. Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner wrote the first one, and without them, any future projects are bound to suffer.
July 9th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Paul Verhoeven. He made the great original so why not give him back the property. I think if its a direct remake thats a mistake. You have to acknowlede that the first film exists because I don’t think any remake could be as good. Id just go into it as if part 2 and 3 were never made!
July 9th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Nice shootin son. What’s your name?
Murphy.
July 9th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Verhoeven was the ultimate director to helm ANY “Robocop” feature, and he already did it. There’s plenty of room to move with another one, but I’d choose only one of the five following directors to tackle it:
Chris Cunningham. Seriously.
David Fincher. Has no problems showing you shit you likely wouldn’t want to see.
Gore Verbinski. A genius in his own right.
Christopher Nolan. But I’d rather see what else he could make in the mean time.
Aronofsky is one of the greatest directors of our time, but he should be focusing on new and original material.
July 11th, 2008 at 1:30 pm
captain- sorry about caps.
i dont have a house.
i have a mansion.
bye BYE!
July 19th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
RIDLEY SCOTT….Blackhawk Down! Should be proof enough.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:58 am
The idea of a movie that’s not even 25 years old being remade is stupid. But Darren Aronofsky is the best director for the job. Maybe David Fincher. Wolfgang Peterson would do a good job. But noone can do what Verhoeven did.
I’ve read the comics transformation of Frank Miller’s script and they were only slightly better than the movies, which is not saying much. Anything he does is a waste of any resources used. He peaked 20 years ago. Lets see how he screw’s The Spirit
August 1st, 2008 at 12:45 pm
id go for robert rodriguez for another director for this film
or even christopher nolan
August 18th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
no way FRANK MILLER’s story’s of ROBOCOP were really stupid. I think Arnofsky will do a great job with ROBOCOP. it just needs to be violent like PAUL VERHOEVEN’S ROBOCOP.