When I was growing up, following the continuity of major franchises was simple. Even when there were time jumps, like those that have fans estimating that the late '80s FRIDAY THE 13TH sequels were actually set in the early 2000s, everything still went down a clear path. I used to think that sort of thing mattered, but then franchises started throwing continuity out the window – the first one that got to me was 1998's HALLOWEEN H20, which ignored HALLOWEENs 4, 5, and 6 so it could connect directly to the first HALLOWEEN and HALLOWEEN II.
Now that sort of thing happens all the time. The next HALLOWEEN is going to ignore all of the sequels and reboots. TEXAS CHAINSAW 3D ignored that franchise's sequels and reboots. James Cameron is producing a TERMINATOR movie that will ignore the TERMINATOR projects he wasn't involved with. The list goes on. Continuities I used to care about are now meaningless.
The latest franchise to go down the "ignore sequels and reboots" route is ROBOCOP. While at the Barbados Independent Film Festival, screenwriter Edward Neumeier, who wrote the 1987 classic ROBOCOP with Michael Miner, revealed that he is now working on a new ROBOCOP movie that will be a direct sequel to the '87 film.
… it’s nice that people are still interested in RoboCop and they have me working on a new one at MGM right now so maybe we’ll get another one out of it.
… We’re not supposed to say too much. There’s been a bunch of other RoboCop movies and there was recently a remake and I would say this would be kind of going back to the old RoboCop we all love and starting there and going forward. So it’s a continuation really of the first movie. In my mind. So it’s a little bit more of the old school thing."
I have given up on being bothered when franchises ignore sequels, but ROBOCOP is one where I wouldn't have been too bothered regardless. Although I enjoyed ROBOCOP 2, I never liked ROBOCOP 3 all that much, and ignoring the existence of the 2014 remake is very easy to do.
After the remake did a poor job of trying to give RoboCop an upgrade, it will be nice to see the original model back in action.
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