Released in 1987, RoboCop tells the story of a dystopian future set in Detroit. The city is plagued with crime, police officers threatening to strike, and the behemoth conglomerate Omni Consumer Products (OCP) has privatized most services, including the Detroit Police Department.
Detroit Police Officer Alex Murphy crosses paths with the sadistic Clarence Boddicker and is violently executed. The slain Murphy is taken and reborn by OCP as a crime-fighting cyborg.
Once unleashed on the streets, he becomes a one-man (robot) wrecking crew waging war on crime. As Murphy slowly begins to recover some of his memories, he seeks out Clarence Boddicker and his gang to punish those responsible for his death. A final showdown occurs between the gang and RoboCop at the site of Murphy’s death.
On the surface, RoboCop sounds like a standard sci-fi shoot-’em-up, but the film is so much more than that. With themes of free will, privatization by business, and religious undertones, the film is more intelligent than it seems.
Followed by two sequels, a cartoon series, a television run, and a reboot in 2014, it appeared that RoboCop had run its course. Well, fear not, fellow Robo fans! We may get to see the future of law enforcement return sooner rather than later.
Recently, Zeitgeist Entertainment Magazine conducted an interview with Ed Neumeier, who was a co-writer and co-producer on the original RoboCop, during the Barbados Independent Film Festival. He had some interesting things to say about the possible return of Detroit’s prodigal son.
In the interview, Neumeier was discussing the cult following that RoboCop has received. While explaining the legacy, Neumeier said:
“It’s nice 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 asked by Zeitgeist for details of this new RoboCop project, Neumeier replied:
“Well, here’s what I’ll say. We’re not supposed to say too much. 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.”
All I can say is, please, oh please, let this come to fruition! I was raised on the original RoboCop and can quote it verbatim. I would love to see Robocop return to the silver screen and the long robotic arm of the law to prevail against the evil in the world. The timing of another film would be perfect as the original plot is slowly mimicking today’s world.