Brazilian director Jose Padilha in talks to helm Robocop relaunch

Less than two weeks ago we learned that MGM was all gung-ho on bringing back a bunch of their old 1980s standbys, such as Mr. Mom, Poltergeist, and most prominently Robocop.  MGM soon poo poo'ed the story, but clearly interest in relaunching Robocop hasn't faded. Why? Because they're still looking for a director, and now have entered talks with Brazilian filmmaker Jose Padilha(Elite Squad) for the gig.

Deadline has the story, noting that MGM was looking for a director with global appeal to remake Paul Verhoeven's 1987 sci-fi cult favorite. Darren Aronofsky(Black Swan) had been attached to the directing gig almost since the plan first went into effect, but dropped out during MGM's financial restructuring in order to pursue other projects.

I only know Padilha from his stirring documentary, Bus 174, about the day a bungled robbery led to the kidnapping of a number of bus passengers. Released in 2002, the same year as City of God, it was part of a wave of Brazilian films that exposed the crushing economic situation in the slums of Rio De Janiero.

No deal is in place just yet, and once that's taken care of a new writer will need to be sought. Padilha has received a ton of acclaim for both of the Elite Squad movies, so I really want to check those out before I gauge how good a fit he is for Robocop. I'm just happy that the remake is being done at all because out of all the remakes and reboots we've seen I thin it's the one that has the best shot at being the most successful.