MGM has confirmed that director Darren Aronofsky (The Fountain, Requiem for a Dream) is on board to helm a reboot of the Robocop franchise. Written by David Self (Road to Perdition), the film is on track to hit theaters sometime in 2010.
The original Robocop opened in 1987, introducing audiences to a troubled cyborg police officer played by Peter Weller. Directed by Paul Verhoeven, the film featured stop-motion animated robot effects by Phil Tippett and crew. Aronofsky’s take will likely rely more on computer animation, though the filmmaker expressed a liking for practical effects with The Fountain.
Robocop remains one of the most successful titles in MGM’s film library. The pic and its two sequels have sold approximately 4.1 million DVD units worldwide. The new film will be produced by Phoenix Pictures’ Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brad Fischer and David Thwaites. Cale Boyter, exec VP Production at MGM, will oversee the project for the studio.
“After making the first Robocop at Orion more than 20 years ago, I’m thrilled to be helping to return this character to the screen with our partners at MGM and through the eyes of Darren Aronofsky and David Self,’ Medavoy comments.
Aronofsky is currently completing The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood. Self wrote Universal’s adaptation of the video game God of War for director Brett Ratner, and was a writer on Universal’s upcoming Wolfman redo starring Benicio del Toro.
