If one 80s franchise doesn’t pan out, there’s always another. At least that seems to be the case with MGM and director Neil Blomkamp, as he’s been tapped to directed RoboCop Returns. The film will be a sequel to the original film and since it didn’t work out with Blomkamp to get on the Alien 5 film; this should scratch his itch to tackle an 80s franchise we’re so found of. While the 2014 film was a bit of a flop, there’s still a lot of great material to mine and I’m excited to see such a thrilling sci-fi auteur on the project. Read below what he has to say about it.

“The original definitely had a massive effect on me as a kid,” Blomkamp told Deadline. “I loved it then and it remains a classic in the end of 20th Century sci-fi catalog, with real meaning under the surface. Hopefully that is something we can get closer to in making of a sequel. That is my goal here. What I connected to as a kid has evolved over time. At first, the consumerism, materialism and Reaganomics, that ’80s theme of America on steroids, came through most strongly. But As I’ve gotten older, the part that really resonated with me is identity, and the search for identity. As long as the human component is there, a good story can work in any time period, it’s not locked into a specific place in history. What’s so cool about RoboCop is that like good Westerns, sci-fi films and dramas, the human connection is really important to a story well told. What draws me now is someone searching for their lost identity, taken away at the hands of people who are benefiting from it, and seeing his memory jogged by events. That is most captivating. The other thing I am excited by is the chance to work again with Justin Rhodes. He has added elements that are pretty awesome, to a sequel that was set in the world of Verhoeven. This is a movie I would love to watch.”

As more information comes in about RoboCop Returns, we’ll be sure to keep you posted here at DFAT!