Last month, word broke that District 9 director Neill Blomkamp will take the helm of MGM’s RoboCop Returns, a direct sequel to the classic 1987 film which will ignore all of the other movies that came after it. Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner, the screenwriters of the original film, have contributed a script to the new movie, but could the original RoboCop, Peter Weller, return as well?
Via Heroic Hollywood, Blomkamp was asked who should play RoboCop in his upcoming film. In response, Blomkamp simply named Weller as his choice.
Peter Weller
— Neill Blomkamp (@NeillBlomkamp) August 13, 2018
This is far from an official announcement, but it is encouraging that Blomkamp wants to see Weller back in the role that he made famous. Considering that RoboCop Returns will deal with the passage of time, it makes perfect sense for Weller to appear as a visibly aged Alex Murphy/RoboCop. But the biggest question is whether Weller wants to play RoboCop one more time. Weller is currently more active as a director than as an actor, but he has demonstrated his affection for the RoboCop character over the past few years. For example, Weller filmed a comedic short for Funny or Die during the fundraising campaign to give Detroit a statue of RoboCop.
Weller reprised his role in 1990 for RoboCop 2, but he didn’t close out the trilogy with RoboCop 3. Because Weller was starring in Naked Lunch, Robert John Burke took over the role of RoboCop. In 2014, Joel Kinnaman starred in the RoboCop reboot, which failed to make much of an impact at the box office. With Blomkamp on board for RoboCop Returns, it’s possible the revival will be more warmly received than the reboot. If Weller returns, that could also win over fans of the first film.
How do you feel about the possibility of Peter Weller starring in RoboCop Returns? Let us know in the comment section below!
