MGM is venturing down the Robocop route again, this time with District 9 and Chappie director Neill Blomkamp at the helm.

The film, which is titled Robocop Returns and acts as a sequel to the 1987 movie, is currently going through a rewrite by Justin Rhodes. The original script was written by Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner; the duo who wrote the original 1987 RoboCop. At this time, a plot line for the return is being kept under wraps.

The original Robocop was directed by Paul Verhoeven and starred  Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O’Herlihy, Kurtwood Smith, Miguel Ferrer, and Ronny Cox. Set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan, in the near future, RoboCop centres on police officer Alex Murphy (Weller) who is murdered by a gang of criminals and subsequently revived by the megacorporation Omni Consumer Products (OCP) as a superhuman cyborg law enforcer known as RoboCop.

Also in the news – Joaquin Phoenix seals the deal on Joker role in Batman spin-off movie

The movie went on to give birth to a franchise the included merchandise, two sequels, a television series, a remake, two animated TV series, a television mini-series, video games, and a number of comic book adaptations/crossovers. MGM tried to resuscitate the franchise in 2014 with Jose Padilha at the helm, but it failed to have the same impact as the original.

Blomkamp has been working on a number of shorts for his production outfit Oats Studios. He will also begin full production at the end of 2018 on the thriller, Greenland starring Chris Evans.

The original writer, Ed Neumeier, will serve as a producer on the sequel with Michael Miner serving as executive producer.