Monday, September 26, 2011

"RoboCop" Gears Up For 2012 Start

Dynamite Entertainment's "RoboCop: Road Trip" #1, available December 2011, is written by Rob Williams, with illustrations by Unai and a cover by Fabiano Neves :

"...America has fallen into a landscape of revolution and chaos and 'OCP' has taken over 'Old Detroit' from the authorities in a political coup. Now it's up to 'RoboCop' and what's left of the Old Detroit Police Department to try and make it out of the state in order to get help from the US military. But 'ED-309' robots patrol the streets and OCP has a new, deadly prototype to send after 'Murphy', while RoboCop's sanity continues to crumble..."

In other "RoboCop" news, director José Padilha who will take on the next "RoboCop" feature film, said he wants actor Michael Fassbender ("X-Men: First Class") to play "Murphy', aka 'RoboCop'.

Padilha said he is currently polishing the screenplay, targeting either a February or March 2012 start, with the film to be set in Detroit, as in director Paul Verhoeven's 1987 original feature "RoboCop".

Meanwhile Detroit, Michigan-based artist Jerry Paffendorf who set up a website for donations to get a statue erected of 'RoboCop', as the protector of 'New Detroit', raised $50,000 to build a statue of the cyborg in Detroit.

The group behind the project is working with Detroit mayor David Bing to find a suitable place for erection of the 'Murphy' statue.

The first "RoboCop" feature, budgeted at $13 million, directed by Verhoeven ("Basic Instinct"), was written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner.

Set in a crime-ridden Detroit of the future, "RoboCop" followed a straight-shooting police officer who is killed in the line of duty, then resurrected as a super-human cyborg. The film starred Peter Weller as officer 'Alex Murphy' aka 'RoboCop', Nancy Allen as 'Officer Anne Lewis', Ronny Cox as 'Omni Consumer products' Vice President 'Richard "Dick" Jones', Kurtwood Smith ("That 70's Show") as 'Clarence Boddicker' and Miguel Ferrer as 'OCP' Executive 'Robert "Bob" Morton'.

In addition to being a satirical action film, "RoboCop" includes larger themes regarding the media, gentrification and corruption.

The film spawned merchandise, two sequels, a television series, two animated TV series, a television mini-series, video games and comic book adaptations.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "RoboCop"...