New 'RoboCop' Sequel To Exist In Original Continuity

A new RoboCop sequel? I'd buy that for a dollar. In a new interview, Ed Neumeier, who co-wrote the original RoboCop, revealed that he's working on a "continuation" of the the first film for MGM. Neumeier was vague on the details, but revealed the film would go back to "the old RoboCop we all love."

RoboCop, Paul Verhoeven's darkly comedic, nihilistic sci-fi action flick, holds up extremely well. Unlike some other action films from the 1980s, RoboCop still seems as fresh and exciting as it did the day it was released in 1987. While there have been several RoboCop sequels, and an absolutely dreadful remake in 2014, none of these films have ever been able to capture the manic magic of the original. That might be about to change: Ed Neumeier, who co-wrote the original film with Michael Miner, recently revealed that he's working on a secret sequel to the film.

In an interview with Zeitgeist Entertainment Magazine, Neumeier said that "people are still interested in RoboCop and they have me working on a new one at MGM right now so maybe we'll get another one out of it." When pressed for details about this previously-unknown sequel, Neumeier said, "We're not supposed to say too much," before adding:

"There's been a bunch of other RoboCop movies and there was recently a remake and I would say this would be kind of going back to the old RoboCop we all love and starting there and going forward. So it's a continuation really of the first movie. In my mind. So it's a little bit more of the old school thing."

I might be reading too much into this, but Neumeier calling the film a "continuation" rather than just a "sequel" might suggest this script will ignore all of the other RoboCop sequels and serve as a proper sequel to the first film. This is similar to what the current Halloween reboot is doing. In other words, this RoboCop might end up being both a sequel and a reboot for the franchise.

In the original RoboCop, Peter Weller played Alex Murphy, a patrol cop working in futuristic Detroit. After a gang of criminals brutally kills Murphy, mega-corporation Omni Consumer Products resurrects him as RoboCop – part man, part machine, all cop. Murphy then sets about tracking down the criminals who killed him. It's a bloody, brutal, and surprisingly funny film, and while I doubt any new sequel can live up to the original – especially if director Paul Verhoeven isn't involved – bringing the original writer back to work on a new script is a good first step.