What’s with Robocop?

As far back as November of 2008, I was hearing rumors that Darren Aronofsky’s vision of ROBOCOP wasn’t moving along as swiftly as people had hoped (and that, as a result, the director was losing interest). I was assured by some pretty rock solid sources that Darren was still actively involved in the project and that his duties promoting THE WRESTLER around Oscar time was his only setback. But now comes word that BLACK SWAN, the Natalie Portman ballet-set thriller, will be his next film and MGM is becoming concerned about the delays. How concerned? They’re quietly looking for another director to come aboard.

MGM refused to comment on the rumor to The Hollywood Reporter and it’s worth noting that Aronofsky is still very much attached at this time. The thinking is that MGM is willing to wait for Aronofsky to do BLACK SWAN as long as ROBOCOP is a top priority when he’s finished. I see looking for a new director as simply a contingency plan in case BLACK SWAN hits delays or the development process for ROBOCOP just drags on far too long for their liking.

As I’ve said before, I love Aronofsky but I wouldn’t be devastated if he dropped out of ROBOCOP. In fact, I’m happy that BLACK SWAN is coming together so quickly. But if Aronofsky was off, who would you want to direct a ROBOCOP remake?