Sci-fi sequel RoboCop Returns is changing directorial hands. With Neill Blomkamp off the film thanks to scheduling issues, Little Monsters' Abe Forsythe is now in the director's chair.
MGM is producing the new movie, which like last year's Halloween and the more recent Terminator: Dark Fate aims to wipe the canon clean of any sequels following Paul Verhoeven's 1987 original. Though obviously the company will be hoping the box office results lean more towards the former than the latter.
Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner, who wrote the script for the first film about a murdered police officer (Peter Weller) who is reborn as a cyborg blend of man and machine, are producing the new outing, which had a recent script by Dark Fate's Justin Rhodes. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Forsythe will do his own pass on the screenplay. It's a big upgrade for the Australian writer/director, whose zombie comedy landed a limited release in the US before hitting Hulu. It arrived in UK cinemas last weekend.
RoboCop Returns is sure to be a big challenge, but Monsters showed Forsythe had a handle on blending action and comedy, so we'll wait and see what he brings to the new assignment. Assuming he stays on it, that is...