Neill Blomkamp announced via Twitter today that he was off the Robocop sequel:

This has to be good news because Robocop Returns looked to start a disturbing trend in 80s genre revival where studios render all of the failed sequels in a franchise as non-canon and pick up right from the last hit.

Paramount is doing this with the Terminator franchise by disappearing Rise Of The Machines, Salvation and Genisys into the memory hole and giving us three mean-faced women instead:

Did you just assume their box office?

But… but… James Cameron is producing! Hey, dummy, maybe Cameron’s not really doing shit except slapping his name on it for a fat slice of the gross?

This Is Why You Fail

Blomkamp and MGM tried to activate those nostalgia tingles by making gestures to fandom such as having a 72-year-old Peter Weller play the title role and bringing back the original suit. 

Sounds like some of them practical effects, right Mr. Abrams? Someone from antiquity, I’m assuming the Gauls, had a saying: beware of Romans bearing gifts.

Well, let’s update that: beware of directors bearing nostalgia™.

Remember, that Alien movie Blomkamp tried to get off the ground was also going to be a retquel™, with it taking place right after the events of Aliens.

I guess the boys in marketing have some analytics that point to people not really giving a fuck about these three-decade-old franchises. 

“OK, you’re gonna love this… The Analyst and it takes place in The Accountant shared universe…”

In any case, Blomkamp who showed such promise with the highly-overrated but highly successful District 9, seems destined for the dustbin of director history.

Elysium, Chappie, the collapse of two retquels™, the canceling of the Chris Evans’ vehicle Deepland due to “p0L1tIcAl R3a5oNz” and now starting yet another film project.

The guy might not have a movie in theaters for six or seven years. That’s Malickian.

Oh, fuck off.

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