Ed Nuemeier talks new Robocop sequel in the works

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

While participating in a filmaker's workshop dedicated to screenwriting and science fiction, Ed Neumeier, co-writer and co-producer of the 1987 film ROBOCOP, offered a few words to Zeitgeist regarding his involvement in another ROBOCOP movie currently in the works at MGM.

During the Meet the Filmmaker’s media event, Neumeier was asked to elaborate on the evolution of ROBOCOP, and how the story of a man-turned-machine has lasted the test of time as a part of the Sci-Fi film genre.

"I think it was my sense of humour," said Neumeier. "It was sort of how I look at things and way, way back in the 1980’s when I was writing this, you were supposed to write action movies that were exciting, but you weren’t really supposed to write action movies that were funny or satirical and I always thought you could do that. In the 80’s that was kind of a satire about corporate America and a little bit about what was going in law enforcement and policing and stuff like that. Those were topics that I thought I could write about in a fun way and luckily I hooked up with a bunch of talented people and the movie turned out really well."

He then added, "I was very lucky to have a producer named John Davidson who produced the movie Airplane, which you might have heard of also, so he was a guy who encouraged you to do things that were funny. Then we got Paul Verhoeven – who is just a world class filmmaker – and he really bought into the whole idea lock, stock and barrel. So it worked out really well that way."

When asked about the film's cult following, Neumeier admitted that he never would have guessed the film would have such a lasting impact on audiences. It was also at this time that Neumeier spoke about his work on a new ROBOCOP film: "I had seen early screenings and people laughed at it so I thought: “Oh it might be successful” and it was more successful than anybody really knew it would be. I didn’t expect to be talking about it thirty years later," Neumeier shared. "It was kind of the start of my career and later we did Starship Troopers – which was an enormous movie that took forever. I think all of that came out of that and it’s nice 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."

As the conversation continued, Neumeier informed Zeitgeist that plans for a new ROBOCOP movie will be built around the 1987 original, not Jose Padiha's ill-received reboot. As eager fans listened in to what the old school filmmaker had to say, Neumeier stated that, "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'd buy that for a dollar!

Offering a fresh chapter of the franchise while using the original as a foundation sounds like a solid plan to me. I know plenty of people who adore ROBOCOP, and would love to see the character restored to his former glory. Is Nuemeier the key to making that happen? Personally, I would love to see a balls-to-the-wall ROBOCOP film inspired by today's turbulent society to fuel Murphy's signature brand of law enforcement.

How about you? Are you excited that there's a new ROBOCOP in the works with members from the original team being directly invovled? Let us know in the comments section below.