, Poltergeist
, and most prominently Robocop
. MGM soon poo poo'ed the story, but clearly interest in relaunching Robocop hasn't faded. Why? Because they're still looking for a director, and now have entered talks with Brazilian filmmaker Jose Padilha(Elite Squad
) for the gig. Deadline has the story, noting that MGM was looking for a director with global appeal to remake Paul Verhoeven's 1987 sci-fi cult favorite. Darren Aronofsky(Black Swan
) had been attached to the directing gig almost since the plan first went into effect, but dropped out during MGM's financial restructuring in order to pursue other projects. I only know Padilha from his stirring documentary, Bus 174
, about the day a bungled robbery led to the kidnapping of a number of bus passengers. Released in 2002, the same year as City of God
, it was part of a wave of Brazilian films that exposed the crushing economic situation in the slums of Rio De Janiero. No deal is in place just yet, and once that's taken care of a new writer will need to be sought. Padilha has received a ton of acclaim for both of the Elite Squad movies, so I really want to check those out before I gauge how good a fit he is for Robocop. I'm just happy that the remake is being done at all because out of all the remakes and reboots we've seen I thin it's the one that has the best shot at being the most successful.
