When Neill Blomkamp left the production of “RoboCop Returns,” many fans feared that the long-in-development sequel would just fall apart. However, it appears that MGM isn’t letting the setback impede progress on the sequel, as the studio has now brought in Abe Forsythe to bring ‘RoboCop’ back to the big screen.
READ MORE: Neill Blomkamp Says He’s Off ‘RoboCop Returns’ & Is Now Directing A New Horror Film
According to THR, MGM has landed on Forsythe, who recently released his horror-comedy “Little Monsters,” as the director of “RoboCop Returns,” which is set to serve as a direct sequel to the 1987 original film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Original writers of “RoboCop,” Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner teamed with Justin Rhodes to pen the script for the upcoming sequel. However, the report says that Forsythe will go back and put his own spin on the existing script.
MGM has a lot of hope that this new sequel will reinvigorate the franchise, which failed to relaunch in 2014 with a full reboot of the franchise, directed by José Padilha. That film was criticized for a variety of reasons, but fans were mainly let down by the way the reboot wasn’t able to capture the bleak, brutal action combined with the dark comedy that was a huge part of the classic 1987 film.
Much like “Halloween” in 2018 and this year’s “Terminator: Dark Fate,” “RoboCop Returns” aims to wipe away the previous sequels in the franchise and start fresh. While there is quite a bit of love for “RoboCop 2,” many fans will admit that it’s more of a guilty pleasure and definitely doesn’t live up to what Verhoeven was able to do in the original. And the less said about “RoboCop 3,” the better.
In addition to “Little Monsters,” Forsythe also wrote and directed a number of TV episodes and shorts, with his 2016 film “Down Under” being his most recognizable project before this year’s Hulu horror film. That means that fans really don’t have much to go back and analyze to see if he’s the man that can properly relaunch “RoboCop.” If there’s one thing that is for sure, Forsythe definitely has an eye for dark comedy, which is great.
