RoboCop Speaks to Detroit from Peter Weller
Deadline New York reports that MGM is talking to director Jose Padilha about rebooting the Robocop movie series:
MGM is negotiating with Brazilian director Jose Padilha to direct Robocop, the remake of the futuristic 1987 film originally helmed by Paul Verhoeven. The original was about a cop who was near death and was drafted to become a powerful cyborg cop, until suppressed memories of his past life come back to haunt him. Peter Weller played the character in the original him in the original and the 1990 sequel.
Reconstituted under Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, MGM has targeted Robocop as its first major franchise play, and they worked hard to find a filmmaker who could play on a global field.
They were impressed by Padilha's track record with taut crime dramas Elite Squad and a sequel that came out in 2010. Those films were Portuguese language and didn't play huge in the U.S. But Elite Squad 2: The Enemy Within grossed over $60 million in Brazil alone last year, surpassing Avatar, Shrek Forever and Alice in Wonderland in Padilha's home country. The original won a Golden Bear at the 2007 Berlinale.
Deadline New York also reports that Black Swan's director Darren Aronofsky was once attached to remake Robocop, but has since moved over to direct the sequel to Wolverine, starting Hugh Jackman.
If Padilha agrees to the deal, MGM can assign a writer to work on the script under the director's supervision.
This information comes quick on the heels of news that a group of artists and fans raised over $50,000 for a statue of Robocop. While interest in the movie franchise may or may not be due to controversy over the Robocop statue, at least it got Peter Weller's attention.
-Brian Short, Michigan Radio News
