Director Paul Verhoeven hasn’t made an American movie since the 2000 film “Hollow Man,” which attempted to explore a modern mature take on the classic “Invisible Man” and it was also his last big entry in the R-rated science fiction genre. But that seems to be changing with his next English-language feature film project “Young Sinner” and while speaking with the outlet Metrograph, Verhoeven has decided to make his big return to American productions alongside teasing an openness to return to making a big studio sci-fi blockbuster. However, there is one catch, it would need to be offered a script as good as the ones he received for “RoboCop” and “Total Recall.” The two big blockbusters and the thriller “Basic Instinct” would sort of cement his status as one of the best genre directors of that era.

“If someone were to give me a script like ‘RoboCop’ or ‘Total Recall,’ I wouldn’t hesitate to do that. I haven’t seen it,” the Dutch filmmaker told Metrograph.

“RoboCop” is easily one of the more well-liked entries in the cyberpunk sub-genre of science fiction and focused on a slain cop ressurected as a cyborg by a greedy corporation that eventually tracks down his criminal killers that are revealed to be intertwined with the company that brought him back to life.

“Total Recall” on the other hand wasn’t an original idea as it was a loose adaptation of the Philip K. Dick story “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” and was pitched as “Indiana Jones” on Mars. It focuses on a construction worker who dreams of visiting the human colony on Mars only to discover he’s already been to Mars as a double agent and was dumped on Earth after having his mind erased leading to a violent adventure off-world. Originally, Canadian director David Cronenberg was attached to direct and he had a direct hand in the addition of the mutant population on Mars, adding his signature weirdness but ultimately exited leaving the director’s chair to be filled by Verhoeven. Oddly enough, a “Total Recall” sequel based on Dick’s “Minority Report” went into development before the studio, Carolco Pictures, went bankrupt and the project landed at the feet of Steven Spielberg. The script’s ties to “Total Recall” was all but severed and reworked as a starring vehicle for Tom Cruise instead of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Speaking of ‘RoboCop,” Verhoeven is reuniting with the film’s co-writer Ed Neumeier on a new American-set political thriller called “Young Sinner” and spoke about how the two ended up finally re-teaming after 1997’s “Starship Troopers.” The pic co-fianced by Disney’s Touchstone Pictures was a satirical futuristic take on WWII propaganda films based on the Robert A. Heinlein novel that found a second life in the home video market after the film was considered a big box office disappointment at release.

“I’m working with Ed Neumeier, who wrote ‘RoboCop.’ You could say it’s a political thriller, if you want, situated in Washington. The last couple of years I’ve been working in France because I couldn’t find something interesting here at that time. But Ed came up with a really interesting proposal. For two years we have been working on the screenplay. It should be done in two months and then we can find out if someone can finance it.”

One could theorize that Neumeier might be the sort of screenwriter that could attempt to write/adapt another tentpole script to coax Verhoeven back to the blockbuster sci-fi genre after working together on three movies. Interestingly enough, he had been involved with plans for “RoboCop Returns” back when Neill Blomkamp had been interested in reviving the franchise with Peter Weller reprising the iconic role of Alex Murphy, aka, RoboCop. Since Neill Blomkamp’s exit from the sequel, there hasn’t been much movement on the part of MGM as the studio had been acquired by Amazon.

There was a time that Sony Pictures was all-in on trying to recapture the magic of his sci-fi work by being involved with remaking “RoboCop,” “Total Recall,” and “Starship Troopers.” All three were PG-13 versions of those beloved mature movies with the first two flopping and luckily the third one never got further than development.

SOURCE: METROGRAPH