It’s full steam ahead at MGM after numerous projects have been languishing in the development wasteland for some time as a result of the studio’s financial woes but now that appears to have been resolved they seem set to milk some of their cash cows with a slate full of sequels and remakes.

One such project that was part of the recent announcement was a new take on Robocop and now , according to Deadline, the studio seem to have found their director in the form of José Padilha who has directed a number of critically acclaimed documentaries as well as the rather ace Elite Squad movies.

As a fan of Elite Squad I have to say that Padilha is an excellent choice and is probably the best possible choice available now that Darren Aronofsky isn’t available due to his commitments on The Wolverine. On the evidence of his previous work Padilha is highly adept at shooting exhilarating action without compromising character development. I hope that the studio have hired him for the right reasons and allow him a high level of creative control so that he can make the film he wants as the results could be very strong indeed.

I appreciate those who are tiring of reboots, remakes and sequels dominating the release schedules but if handled well Robocop could be great and not a disgrace to Paul Verhoeven’s original like the two existing sequels, TV series and straight to video films have been.

Expect casting details to follow in the coming months as production is set to get underway fairly sharpish so that the film can hit cinemas by the end of next year. My ideal would be Timothy Olyphant for Murphy, Nic Cage for whatever villain they opt for and Brian Tyler to have a stab at updating Basil Poledouris’ iconic score.

We’ll bring your more details on the project as and when they become available.