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Neill Blomkamp Is Directing RoboCop Returns, A Sequel To The Original

Excuse me, we have to cheer. Somewhere, there is a celebration happening.

Earlier this year, fans of 80s icon RoboCop cheered when news broke that Ed Neumeier, the writer of the original Paul Verhoeven RoboCop film, was producing a RoboCop film that ignored the sequels, and lukewarm reboot.

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According to a report by Deadline, MGM is developing the new instalment, fittingly titled Robocop Returns, with District 9 director Neill Blomkamp at the helm.

Yes, the guy who almost made a sequel of James Cameron’s Aliens is developing a sequel to one of the most iconic films of the last century. Remember, this isn’t a sequel to the lukewarm 2014 reboot, and will instead be a continuation of the original film that was first released in 1987.

Yeah, you’ll buy that for more than a dollar!

What’s more, scriptwriter Justin Rhodes, who is also penning the next Terminator movie will be polishing the script for modern audiences. The film will be based on a story written by RoboCop’s creators, Edward Neumier and Michael Miner, which was actually written years ago but it never saw the light of day due to the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike.

Ah MGM. After 30 years, you realised you made a mistake, and now, it’s time to erase those mistakes.

Blomkamp — whose most recent works include 2013’s Elysium and 2015’s Chappie — told Deadline that the original had a “massive effect” on him as a kid, and hopes to make a film that has “real meaning under the surface”. “As long as the human component is there, a good story can work in any time period, it’s not locked into a specific place in history”, he said.

RoboCop fans will be please to see this Tweet:

This will be the first time Neumier and Miner have been creatively involved since the original, and with Blomkamp’s proven track record of sci-fi films, things are looking hopeful for Detroit’s cyborg protector.

Speaking for geeks out there: Please don’t screw this up for us, or there will be… trouble.