Tag: RoboCop Returns

Posted on in News

Amazon Officially Announces Agreement To Purchase MGM For $8.45 Billion – Will “Reimagine” Their Deep Catalog

It’s been reported for days that Amazon was looking to spend almost $9 billion to acquire MGM, a major Hollywood studio that has a heap of IP titles and legacy films. The studio also has a partnership with EON Productions for the James Bond franchise.

Well, the streaming giant made the merger official this morning and dropped a press release confirm it’s going ahead, paying an impressive $8.45 billion for MGM. The press release also mentioned Amazon’s intention to “reimagine” the deep catalog, which likely means turning properties into films and television shows.

“The real financial value behind this deal is the treasure trove of IP in the deep catalog that we plan to reimagine and develop together with MGM’s talented team. It’s very exciting and provides so many opportunities for high-quality storytelling,” said Mike Hopkins, Senior Vice President of Prime Video and Amazon Studios. 

Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and MGM today announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which Amazon will acquire MGM for a purchase price of $8.45 billion. MGM has nearly a century of filmmaking history and complements the work of Amazon Studios, which has primarily focused on producing TV show programming. Amazon will help preserve MGM’s heritage and catalog of films, and provide customers with greater access to these existing works. Through this acquisition, Amazon would empower MGM to continue to do what they do best: great storytelling.

The studio’s film catalog includes 12 Angry Men, Basic Instinct, Creed, James Bond, Legally Blonde, Moonstruck, Poltergeist, Raging Bull, RoboCop, Rocky, Silence of the Lambs, Stargate, Thelma & Louise, Tomb Raider, The Magnificent Seven, The Pink Panther, The Thomas Crown Affair, and many films, over 4,000 of them. Not to mention 17,000 television shows as well.

MGM is already looking to soft-reboot RoboCop with RoboCop Returns from Aussie director Abe Forsythe (Little Monsters). The Russo Brothers are producing a new incarnation of the romantic crime flick Thomas Crown Affair led by Michael B. Jordan (Creed, Black Panther, Without Remorse) as the charming thief. Jordan is about to direct and star in Creed III, making his directorial debt on the boxing drama. A new James Bond is expected to be hired for Bond 26, once No Time To Die ends the Daniel Craig era. Alicia Vikander’s Tomb Raider reboot movie is set to get a sequel from director Misha Green (Lovecraft Country). Something like Stargate would be prime for a franchise reboot as it was a feature film that spawned multiple television shows. Those are just some examples that are just the tip of the iceberg and we should expect more projects announced in the coming weeks/months given the deep pockets of Amazon Studios/Prime Video.

Amazon getting their hands on a legacy Hollywood studio should help boost their film/television library but also allowing them to create new original IP content, allowing them to become more competitive against the Netflix originals and could see Amazon attempt theatrical distribution on a larger scale as they could add global box office to their revenue stream.

Some of the high-profile Prime Video shows on the horizon are the expensive Lord of The Rings that is expected to land at least five seasons and at least two seasons of Wheel of Time series led by Rosamund Pike that is based on the Robert Jordan fantasy novels.

SOURCE: AMAZON

Posted on in Film News

Amazon’s Purchase of MGM For $9 Billion Could Be Announced This Week

There have been reports circulating for a while now that streaming giant Amazon is looking to buy Hollywood studio MGM Studios, it would be their first entry into making a huge push into major feature film development.

A deal could be announced as early as this week according to a report from The Wall Street Journal and point towards a figure close to $9 billion. People have pointed out that valuation is a bit steep as the company was valued at around $5.5 billion back in December.

Amazon.com Inc. is nearing a deal to buy the Hollywood studio MGM Holdings for almost $9 billion, said people familiar with the matter, a pact that would turn a film operation founded in the silent era into a streaming asset for the e-commerce giant. An agreement could be announced as early as this week, people close to the situation said, assuming the talks don’t fall apart at the last minute.

MGM is the partner of EON Productions on the James Bond franchise and could mean that Amazon could become the streaming home of the franchise. They’re also behind the Candyman remake from Nia DaCosta (The Marvels), the Creed films with Michael B. Jordan set to direct Creed III, and they’ve been developing a new RoboCop film as well.

Amazon landing a real and established Hollywood studio means that the streaming service could branch-out to global theatrical distribution, as I don’t imagine EON would want to see their Bond franchise become some Prime Video exclusive and could see Amazon originals turn into box office earners.

SOURCE: THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Posted on in Film News

Neill Blomkamp Teases Interest In Making A ‘Starship Troopers’ Movie

Today, we learned that District 9 director Neill Blomkamp is working on a script for a sequel to his debut sci-fi action film, titled District 10. That’s not the only thing he teased on Twitter. A fan asked him if he’d make a Starship Troopers film and candidly seemed to agree with him with “I’ll do it”, while dismissing someone else’s call to do something in the Star Wars universe.

https://twitter.com/NeillBlomkamp/status/1365163570472701952
https://twitter.com/NeillBlomkamp/status/1365164612472070147

Interestingly, a Starship Troopers reboot was announced back in 2016 at Sony Pictures as first revealed by The Hollywood Reporter. The bad news was that producer Neal H. Moritz is attached, who was behind the horribly generic PG-13 remakes of RoboCop and Total Recall. Along with the screenwriters behind the long forgotten Baywatch movie.

Five years later and there really hasn’t been a concrete update on the project.

Starship Troopers was based on the novel by Robert A. Heinlein, the book helped inspire James Cameron’s Colonial Marines in Aliens and Microsoft’s Halo franchise. It landed a Japanese anime, feature film from director Paul Verhoeven released in 1997, a kids CGI animated series, multiple low-budget film sequels, and animated projects.

It’s worth mentioning the Blomkamp hasn’t had the best luck when trying to turn existing IP into feature films as he was originally set to make his film debut with 20th Century Fox’s Halo film before pivoting to District 9. More recently he exited 20th Century Fox’s Alien 5 (a direct sequel to James Cameron’s Aliens) and MGM Studios’ RoboCop Returns (a direct sequel to Paul Verhoeven’s original) before moving on to his own stuff.

Neill would certainly be a strong pick for a new Starship Troopers film and given the lack of status updates from Sony it doesn’t sound like they’re about get that earlier reboot incarnation into production anytime soon. Then again, tweeting interest doesn’t mean it will come together but teasing stuff on social media is how Blomkamp eventually got a development deal for Alien 5 at Fox.

STARSHIP TROOPERS – In the distant future, the Earth is at war with a race of giant alien insects. Little is known about the Bugs except that they are intent on the eradication of all human life. But there was a time before the war… A Mobile Infantry travels to distant alien planets to take the war to the Bugs. They are a ruthless enemy with only one mission: Survival of their species no matter what the cost…

SOURCE: NEILL BLOMKAMP

Posted on in Film News

Neill Blomkamp Secretly Shot An Untitled Supernatural Horror Movie For AGC Studios Over The Summer – His First Feature Film In 5 Years

District 9’s Neill Blomkamp has finally shot a follow-up to his film Chappie!

Neill has had a long journey with multiple mishaps and projects that never quite happened. For whatever reason films such as Alien 5, RoboCop Returns, Greenland, and his upcoming film Inferno (delayed to 2021) just didn’t come together over the years.

However, there is news he’s finally finished a new feature film. Neill recently he shot an untitled sci-fi horror film over the summer in British Columbia, Canada (where Neill’s Oats Studios is located) according to Deadline with the new film being set for AGC Studios.

They also add they’re expected to be finished by the spring of 2021 and that cinematographer Byron Kopman worked on the horror project.

Details are scarce but this seems to be the only post Neill really made about the project, on Instagram at least.

This would be the first feature film for Neill in five years since he released Chappie back in 2015. Blomkamp had originally planned to shoot his action horror film Inferno (also at AGC Studios) in Albuquerque, New Mexico this year starring Taylor Kitsch (John Carter, True Detective) but that has been delayed to 2021. Blomkamp has been keeping himself busy shooting short films for Oats Studios alongside commercials.

AGC Studios is beyond handful of upcoming films including Roland Emmerich’s Moonfall for Lionsgate and the pandemic heist film Lockdown from director Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow, Chaos Walking) that stars Anne Hathaway, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Ben Stiller that landed at HBO Max. They also put together the sci-fi action film Universe’s Most Wanted with Dave Bautista (Blade Runner 2049, Spectre, Guardians of The Galaxy) and Brad Peyton directing.

SOURCE: DEADLINE

Posted on in Film News

‘RoboCop’ Co-Creator Ed Neumeier Gives An Update On ‘RoboCop Returns’ – Praises New Director Abe Forsythe

While RoboCop co-creator and screenwriter Ed Neumeier (Starship Troopers) has talked up the potential of a prequel series featuring OCP’s Dick Jones, he also mentioned to SyFy Wire this month about the current status of RoboCop Returns. The direct sequel to the original 1987 film that recently saw Neill Blomkamp (District 9) exit and replaced with Aussie director Abe Forsythe (Little Monsters).

Ed talked about working with Abe and how he’s tackling the sequel.

NEUMEIER: “We had a deal, Neill came on, then Abe Forsythe came on and I think he’s using a lot of the stuff Neill had and some of the original stuff [from the 1998 script]. But Abe is doing his own version, which is what I wanted. I needed a fresh voice and he had a really interesting idea. We’re hoping when the next draft comes in we’ll be in a position to make it.”

“Abe made a really interesting movie in Little Monsters, but he made a really interesting Australian film about the race riots [Down Under] I was really impressed with, it was kind of a pseudo-documentary and had an ’80s style. I didn’t want to say too much, I wanted him to have the ideas and not worry about any other version of it, including ours, and just do his own thing. It was very nice to be able to say that to someone like Abe with confidence. What he came back with was really interesting, it felt relevant and really crackled. I expect to see a script any day now.“

According to Ed the studio hasn’t greenlit the film as they’re still trying to nail-down a script.

NEUMEIER: “No, we’re still trying to get a script right. We went on some wild rambles with Mr. Blomkamp, so Abe has his work cut out for him.”

It’ll be interesting to see if MGM Studios will end up making the film given all the hiccups. I recently watched Little Monsters and can fully support Abe tackling the world of RoboCop.

ROBOCOP – In a violent, near-apocalyptic Detroit, evil corporation Omni Consumer Products wins a contract from the city government to privatize the police force. To test their crime-eradicating cyborgs, the company leads street cop Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) into an armed confrontation with crime lord Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) so they can use his body to support their untested RoboCop prototype. But when RoboCop learns of the company’s nefarious plans, he turns on his masters.

SOURCE: SYFY WIRE

Posted on in Television News

‘RoboCop’ Co-Creator Ed Neumeier Developing Prequel Series Focused On OCP and Dick Jones For MGM

While the RoboCop direct sequel RoboCop Returns has been in some state of limbo since director Neill Blomkamp left the MGM film, it looks like co-creator Ed Neumeier is looking to get the ball rolling on an untitled prequel series set in that world. 

During an interview with Moviehole, Ed has revealed he is currently working with writers Dave Parkin and Rob Gibbs to develop a new series that will explore the origins of OCP the corporation that created RoboCop and the original film’s villain Dick Jones. 

NEUMEIER: “I’m working at MGM on it. It has all the cool stuff about RoboCop except no RoboCop. I’m working with these two writers, Dave Parkin and Rob Gibbs, who bought this idea to a TV producer friend of mine, who then brought it to me. The first time I heard it I knew it was a cool idea because I could see a lot of things you could do with it. It’s such an interesting character.”

“There’s the idea of doing things about business and law enforcement in the city of Detroit a minute-and-a-half in the future, it would be a way to do all sorts of stories about business and tech, Silicon Valley, corporations, snakes in suits, cops, all that. It’s a wonderful rich tapestry.”

“So we’ve been talking about it and I think we have an interesting story. It’s fun to work with a younger version of the Dick Jones we meet in RoboCop. He’s an actualized corporate predator [in the movie] but nobody necessarily starts out being the bad guy. So it’s going to be about the evolution of Richard Jones to Dick Jones, the story of OCP, and how the world moves into the future, how the corporate world behaves.”

However, as Ed points out MGM hasn’t officially signed off the project. 

NEUMEIER: “With any luck, if MGM is willing, if we can find the partners, if we can get this pilot made, if we can convince a bunch of people – it’s amazing how many people you have to convince – if that all works out maybe we’ll get a TV show up.”

At one point, Ed had teased a desire and development on a Starship Troopers sequel series with the original cast members, but there hasn’t been much in the way of updates on that recently. 

After MGM announced that Australian director Abe Forsythe (Little Monsters) would be replacing Neill Blomkamp on RoboCop Returns we haven’t really got much in the way of any updates on the movie.

SOURCE: MOVIEHOLE 

Posted on in News

Directors Neill Blomkamp and Jordan Vogt-Roberts Tease A Future Collaboration?

Earlier in the month, while praising the work of fellow director Neill Blomkamp on District 9, Jordan Vogt-Roberts (Kong: Skull Island) teased that he’d love to work on something together in the future. 

VOGT-ROBERTS: “Rewatching Neill Blomkamp’s DISTRICT 9. Without a doubt a modern classic. Still in awe of what he pulled off all these years later. Still a gold standard for VFX. Still explosive and brilliant. One day I hope to mind-meld with this man.”

Blomkamp responding to the tweet with “I’m down”. 

https://twitter.com/NeillBlomkamp/status/1275620892207222784

Nothing more than a hint but it’s exciting none-the-less. 

Jordan has a couple of projects in the works including a live-action adaptation of the beloved military espionage video game series Metal Gear Solid for Sony Pictures. A new draft of the script has been completed but still has yet to be given an official greenlight from the studio. 

Neill Blomkamp has been having a rough time securing his next feature film bouncing from Alien 5 to RoboCop Returns to Greenland to his latest original project, a horror film titled Inferno which is expected to begin shooting soon in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

Both share a love for video games having directed live-action trailers for Anthem and Destiny 2.

SOURCE: TWITTER