You’d think ‘the powers that be’ would have learnt their lesson back in 2006 when Neil LaBute’s ill-advised remake crashed and burned at the box office, but here we are again! Though that colossal misfire has admittedly gone on to gain a small cult following of its own thanks solely to the sensationally deranged central performance by Nicolas Cage (“Not the bees! NOT THE BEES!”), one thing was made clearly evident – some movies should simply remain untouched. Even the director of the original Robin Hardy himself felt the ire of fans when he tried to cash in with his “spiritual sequel” The Wicker Tree in 2011. Rightly so. It was rubbish.

If you can get behind the idea of revisiting The Wicker Man once more, then we already have a small bit of promising news in that the wonderful Andy Serkis is involved via his production company The Imaginarium, who will be developing the remake. Can you picture the actor being able to resist bagging one of the two iconic roles (Sgt. Neil Howie or Lord Summerisle) for himself? Neither can we, and we’re certainly open to either. Also interesting is that this version will actually be a TV series, allowing for a much deeper exploration of Summerilse’s shady shenanigans.

Misfits fans will be delighted to learn that the beloved British show’s creator Howard Overman is overseeing The Wicker Man. Overman has gone on to amass some serious writing credentials on such genre-winners as Merlin, Atlantis, Future Man, and most recently War of the Worlds, which has just finished its third season on Epix (and is coming October 19th to Disney+ in the UK). All signs point to the project being in pretty safe hands at this point.

Little is known as to the approach Overman is taking with the story, but the quotes given to Deadline (who broke the news) describe the series as “bold, shocking, and unique” (we should bloody hope so!), that will “explore the same themes of sacrifice, superstition, and ritual that were at [The Wicker Man’s] core”. It’s also been confirmed that the action will take place in present day, rather than revisit the ‘70s setting.

We’ll have more on The Wicker Man as it develops. In the meantime, join us around the Maypole as we pay tribute to the King of the Harvest in hope that he gifts a bountiful new TV show with which to nourish us!

RoboCop is one of the most iconic films of the 1980s, and its legacy has lived on long in the years since. Paul Verhoeven’s picture was loved for its brutal violence and futuristic themes. The 1987 offering about a deceased police officer being resurrected as a crime-fighting robot has influenced a variety of sequels and spinoffs in the years since.

There has long been talked of rebooting the series and developing a direct sequel to the original picture, but it is yet to come to fruition. Now could be the ideal time to bring it back, as the concept could work well as a modern multiplatform franchise.

Sequel Set to Follow on from the Events of the Original

In 2014, there was an attempt to revive the RoboCop series for contemporary audiences. José Padilha directed Joel Kinnaman in the title role, and the movie also featured big names like Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, and Samuel L. Jackson. It was a relative failure, though, and only grossed $242.6 million against a $130 million budget. There had originally been plans to follow that with a sequel, but Sony Pictures Releasing cancelled it due to the lack of interest in the reboot.

Since then, there has been talk of releasing a new reboot, which would be written as a direct sequel to the 1987 offering. It would effectively negate all the other films in the series that had come since the first offering. This was announced in 2018, and Neill Blomkamp was planned as the director. A year later, the South African-Canadian filmmaker had stepped down from the project, and it was announced that Abe Forsythe had taken over in the chair. However, there have been few other details about the picture since then.

RoboCop Has Great Potential as a Franchise

It’s no surprise that Hollywood studios want to keep revisiting RoboCop, as it has enormous potential as a franchise. The 1987 movie had a massive influence on popular culture and was adapted into various spinoffs and related games. The same thing could happen in the modern age, and new platforms could help to boost the film’s fortunes even more.

There are already a few RoboCop games on the market that could be used to entice people to a new film about the cyborg crime fighter. These include RoboCop for mobile, which is an APK from Uptodown. It’s a third-person shooting game, and it appeals to people who like titles like Mass Effect: Infiltrator. Another popular game in 2022 is the RoboCop slot, which is one of the free slots available at VegasSlotsOnline. It’s listed among many other film-based slots like Terminator 2: Judgement Day and The Matrix. These titles attract players who want to play for fun, but they are also available for real money. To play them, players just need to pick their favourite theme and get redirected to the relative page.

Over the years, there have been several other RoboCop games, highlighting the series’ potential for this format. There was a 2014 RoboCop game released alongside the picture that year, and it acted as a tie-in to the big-screen outing. There is a planned game for next year entitled RoboCop: Rogue City.  This PC and console outing will fill players with nostalgia for the early films, as Peter Weller is set to return as the title character.

A TV Series?

There is also the chance that the RoboCop franchise could return in the form of a television series. Streaming platforms are constantly looking for ways to outdo their rivals, and one method has been picking up much-loved franchises and rebooting them. It wouldn’t be surprising to see RoboCop adapted for Netflix or another platform, perhaps alongside a cinematic release. There was a RoboCop series before, so this is something that could definitely work.

As we have previously stated here at Starburst, the series could come in the form of a prequel offering. This would be a bit of a twist on what many people would be expecting, but it is something that could easily take off if done right. It may be interesting to see the story and characters from a totally new perspective.

Everything’s quiet regarding the new RoboCop sequel at the moment, but it is likely to be on the way. The exciting news is that this could be accompanied by a load of new games and a spinoff series.