The demise of the project is certainly not news, however, while it had been reported that Darren Aronofsky’s exit from “RoboCop” was influenced by a 3D intervention from MGM, the director now reveals otherwise — noting the studio’s own financial problems had more influence on his decision to make “Black Swan” instead.
“The studio is in question, as everyone knows, with ‘The Hobbit’ and all that stuff, and ‘Black Swan’ was ready to go,” the director explained. “It just became an easy decision.”
“All that stuff with the 3D. I don’t know where that came from. Actually, I do know where that came from. I did one Q&A and someone asked me about 3D and it was before I saw Cameron’s film and I wasn’t that into it at the time. Someone connected that to ‘Robocop.’ There’s no truth to that story.”
The Q&A Aronofsky refers to was at the Edinburgh Film Festival last pre-“Avatar” year where he described the format as a “gimmick” and somewhat truthfully added that “those glasses are a pain and shit gives you a headache.” Mind you, that was also the same fest where the director played ignorant about the same film and denied Brad Pitt walked out on “The Fighter.” Aronofsky now added that his views on the format have changed as it has progressively been accepted by the industry.
“With the right project, I’m totally into 3D. Scorsese’s working in 3D [on “Hugo Cabret”]. I am very curious what that’s going to be. Like everyone, I thought ‘Avatar’ was an incredible experience. I’m also interested in what someone like John Waters would do in 3D. That’s when it starts to become interesting, when you start to see it used in very interesting, different ways. There is a backlash at this point, and I think that’s just because it’s been overexposed, but that’s just because people are rushing to bank in on it. There’s no doubt that interesting things are going to be done in 3D.”
Aronofsky’s “Black Swan,” meanwhile, just premiered at Venice to immense acclaim before its December 1st release, with the helmer already lining up several projects that could follow it up including a Jackie O biopic with wife Rachel Weisz, an adaptation of Ron Rash’s period thriller “Serena” starring Angelina Jolie, and a Guillermo Arriaga-scribed adaptation of John Vailiant’s “The Tiger” with Brad Pitt attached to star. Also, don’t hold your breath, but he doesn’t seem to rule out a potential return to “RoboCop” revealing that he’ll “see what happens with it down the line.”
