'RoboCop' sequel will resurrect classic robo-suit

Peter Weller in RoboCop (Credit: Orion Pictures)
Peter Weller in RoboCop (Credit: Orion Pictures)

Director Neill Blomkamp is planning to make his planned RoboCop sequel as faithful to Paul Verhoeven's iconic original movie as possible.

The District 9 director announced he was working a sequel to the 1987 actioner – disregarding 1990 and 1993's RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3 – last year.

And when asked for an update by fans over the weekend, he was happy to oblige.

He says that the scriptwriting process is going well, and that we should 'imagine watching Verhoeven do a follow up film'.

Asked in a follow-up question if that 'means the original suit', Blomkamp replied 'in the affirmative, saying '1 million% original'.

So it sounds like he's going for full authenticity, with Edward Neumeier and Michael Milner, who penned the first movie, on script duties.

In an interview last year, Neumeier said: “We're not supposed to say too much. There's been a bunch of other RoboCop movies and there was recently a remake and I would say this would be kind of going back to the old RoboCop we all love and starting there and going forward.

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“So it's a continuation really of the first movie. In my mind. So it's a little bit more of the old school thing.”

The reboot of the first movie came in 2014, courtesy of director José Padilha, with Joel Kinnaman as Alex Murphy, taking on the role of the cop wounded in action and brought back from the brink of death by robotic technology, immortalised by Peter Weller in the original.

 Joel Kinnaman starred in the title role in the 2014 reboot. (Sony Pictures)
Joel Kinnaman starred in the title role in the 2014 reboot. (Sony Pictures)

The movie was a middling success, many critics noting that it was not as bad as it could have been, but otherwise receiving minimal praise, and a modest $242 million box office haul.

There was a huge backlash however when the first images of the reboot’s RoboCop suit were revealed. "The original Robocop looked like a robot, this one looks like a guy in a suit," wrote one disgruntled fan.

It's hoped that Blomkamp can give us the sequel we've been waiting for, though there's no release date slated as yet.