Robocop Frozen

In addition to Bond 23 (and, assumingly, the “F/X” remake I mentioned earlier today), debt-ridden MGM has whacked a ‘No Thru Road’ sign in front of Darren Aronofsky’s “RoboCop” remake.

‘Nash’ from the OCP-lovin’ RoboCop Archive dropped me a line earlier today, stating that “ I’ve spoken with Phoenix Pictures [and] asked them about the status of ROBOCOP… they told me that the project is on hold. The problem is that Mary Parent, Chairperson of MGM, wants a 3D movie for the new ROBOCOP. But ,as you know, Darren Aronofsky is a real artist and he’s not interested in Gimmicks like,3D,CGI,Filming digital, he wants to do everything as real (organic) as possible just like The Fountain”.

Well, I suppose anyone could have seen that coming – what with every other film (including that thing that’s near generated a billion bucks!) utilizing the new whiz-bang 3D technology. Its a no brainer that MGM would want to add ‘extra appeal’ to a film property like their long-delayed “RoboCop” redo! Still, when Aronosky signed onto the project a couple of years ago, the resurgence in 3-D movies hadn’t really taken off. Clearly, MGM have, based on what’s working in the market place, updated their brief in recent months.

But, I had a feeling things weren’t shaping out too well for the “RoboCop” remake. I think the first indication there might trouble there was when the release date was pushed back from 2010 to 2011. And look, as much as I love Aronofksy’s work, and as much as I can appreciate someone trying something new (especially when it comes to a remake), I have to admit I’ve always been a little unsure about Aronofsky’s vision for the film – he’s said previously that the film won’t bare much similarity to the original film, that it’ll have an all-new storyline, and that it’ll take place in a different universe than Paul Verhoeven’s film. I think fans of the series – like, say, fans of say “Batman” or Bond – expect certain things a “RoboCop” movie… you can’t screw with it too much. I don’t doubt he’d bring us something spectacularly thrilling, but it still has to be, ya know, RoboCop?

The bottom line here is, with MGM in a state of flux at the moment, nothing’s really getting up – so even if Aronofsky and the studio were in agreement on the film they wanted to make, it likely wouldn’t get a greenlight until after the studio finds its new owner.

We’ll see how this one pans out.