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It's Official - Darren Aronofsky Directing the RoboCop Reboot!

by Alex Billington
July 24, 2008

It looks like Requiem for a Dream's Darren Aronofsky (seen above) will be bringing RoboCop back before moving on to The Fighter! We've heard rumblings about Aronofsky's involvement in the RoboCop reboot for quite a while and both myself and Kevin Powers have each commented on our feelings. However, whether or not we thought it was a good idea, Aronofsky has officially signed on! MGM just announced tonight that he has signed on to direct RoboCop and that screenwriter David Self (of The Haunting, Thirteen Days, and Road to Perdition) is penning the script. MGM is fast tracking the film and moving it into production sometime next year for release in 2010. Now does this reboot sound badass?!

MGM's Chairman Mary Parent said of the announcement: "Darren is undeniably one of the most talented, original and visceral filmmakers, and David is one of the greatest writers in Hollywood. All of us at MGM couldn't be more excited." Additionally, producers Brad Fischer and David Thwaites added: "With a filmmaker of Darren Aronofsky's vision and imagination and a writer of David Self's caliber, we are poised to bring to the screen an entertaining and provocative film, which will now be under the creative guidance of two of the best storytellers working in our industry today." Although everyone involved is enthusiastic, let's hope that the story isn't as crazy as originally rumor: "20 years after the termination of the RoboCop program, the city decides to reinstate the program." Is it a remake? Is it a reboot?

As I originally stated when I first heard about this, I think it's a great idea. Darren Aronofsky is an amazing director and can do no wrong and his involvement instantly makes this potentially a fantastic reinvention of a beloved franchise. I'm not necessarily fond of Self as the writer, but I think that's irrelevant considering this is truly Aronofsky's creation. What is not proven yet is Aronofsky's ability to direct a script that he didn't write himself, since Pi, Requiem for a Dream, and The Fountain were all projects that he wrote his own scripts for as well. I'm sure he'll do a fine job and I have no worries, but I'm just curious if there will be any noticeable differences in his style or directing. Am I the only one who is this confident in Aronofsky? If you love the original RoboCop, you're definitely going to be in for a treat this time around! What do you think of this announcement? Good or bad?

Filed under Discuss, Movie News, Opinions

From around the web:

EG

I really hope he brings Clint Mansell to do the score as well, beyond that I'm all for this. He almost got to do the Batman reboot (which clearly I'm glad Nolan got it), I would of liked to seen his no matter how horrible it sounded when i read his idea for it, none the less this is a franchise I would love to see his touch brought to.
Nikhil Hariharan

Considering his previous works, i somewhat believe in him and hopefully he will reboot the franchise or better yet just make a sequel that surpasses the original! Anyone see the teaser poster they released couple months ago? It was an homage to the old robocop "design" , is that a hint that it may be a sequel?? or just a poster to pay respect?
personx

As much as I love Aronofsky's work - there is just no need for a re-boot, re-make, new version or whatever of the already cult classic Robocop. A continuation maybe, but wouldn't you prefer something fresh, something original, something that in 15years time would be the next generations cult classic?!.
Peloquin

This project wouldn't have worked if anyone else was directing...can you imagine the Micheal Bay remake of Robocop?
Nick

The only thing cool about Robocop was Robocop Vs. Terminator for Sega Genisis. Other than that Robocop will never be cool. Aronosky is a genius but should have never decided to take this on.
jason_md2020

I love Aronofsky's work & I loved the original RoboCop. I'm just still iffy if this is a good fit. It feels a bit like Bob Dylan trying to make Techno. Nothing against either, I'm just trying to see a connection between the two that could work, and I'm coming up empty...
Soren

These re-makes- ENOUGH ALREADY! I don't give a fig about this one's "vision" and that one's "greatness", that's just chatter. To me, what this represents is a complete paucity of imagination. If there is so much "vision" and "greatness" in abundance in Hollywood, try creating ORIGINAL works. I'd also like to declare a moratorium on the word "genius". More chatter. Hollywood is all spectacle and shocks, and little or no illumination. And certainly no "genius", unless it's for spending obscene amounts of money to orchestrate mayhem.
http://www.tyrannous.net Paul

Amazing!
Alex J. Murphy

aronofsky is probably the perfect director to bring robocop back. not only can he paint very real images of disturbing people and human desperation (requiem for a dream) but he's no slouch in the science/tech/math scene either (the fountain and pi). both of these elements are the soul of robocop, as it takes place in a city as corrupt and dirty as the people who run it. imagine just how puss-tastic the delta city of the 80's is going to look compared to the desolate, crime-ridden, drug-fueled wasteland aronofsky is sure to create. not to mention how absolutely smart but badass a robocop a genius like aronofsky is capable of envisioning. i guess what im trying to say here is i'd fuck him
Anne Lewis

Murphy :..( i thought you had feelings for me? but now i find out that you would rather make love to aronofsky. I should have never saved you in the first place . I hope you can please him with your robo shaft, your dead to me X( .
http://www.firstshowing.net Alex Billington

Keep on topic guys or I'm going to start deleting comments and banning all of you guys.
Alex J. Murphy

its still gonna be a good movie though
http://movieguyreviews4u.blogspot.com Ryan

I like Aronofsky but his last and first actually bigger budget film THE FOUNTAIN, to put it nicely, left more to be desired.
Keith

I think this announcement is fantastic! Robocop, if I'm remembering correctly, has never been a very serious franchise; always very campy. I don't think Aronofsky will go that route. His three films so far have been deadly serious so I have no reason to believe this will be any different. Clint Mansell will undoubtedly return, as he worked on Requiem and The Fountain. Can't wait to see a trailer.
cridel

Darren, Please have Clint Mansell and Cronos Quartet Score Robocop
vertdang

Ryan: The Fountain left more to be desired. The fountain sucked so hard, I took my wife and motherinlaw to see it and we all walked out at the end, look at each other and went "what the hell?" I will never get those 2 hours back. They would have been better spent diving for belly-button lint.
me

The name says it all, "Robocop". I mean how good could a movie be based on a concept in which a robot is a bloody police officer, its doomed from the start. What a shit idea for a film.
brian batie

What made the original so good was not the story, (wasn't much of one) or even the violence, (anyone who knows the original Hellraiser movie will know what I mean) but the seriously dark humor that was so cleverly included. Verhoeven created a work of art with the first one, I wonder how "La Giaconda" can be improved upon. Starting with the news reports to the commercials, the 600SUX (a play on Pontiac's competition to the Ford Taurus used in the original) to the denizens of the police station, to the overkill of the ED-209, Robo in pieces dumped at the roadside, still alive, Bixby (I'd buy that for a dollar) and not the gore per se, but the sheer gratuitousness of a guy being dissolved in toxic waste, then splattered by a car. It gave me the strangest laughter I have ever had, like ROFL, but internally, like watching my favorite Road Runner cartoons. If this type of humor can be recaptured and even expanded upon, then it will be worth the effort, but if all that will happen is a darker, more gory version without the humor, but more bullets and EFX, I think it will bomb horribly after a successful first weekend.