30 years ago today,RoboCopcrashed into theaters and now it’s about to make a return to the big screen for a one-night only event. The action movie starringPeter Welleras a Frankenstein-like cop cleaning up the streets of Detroit (with a lot of blood) was released in 1987. Though the movie takes place in Detroit, many of the urban shots were filmed a lot further away in Dallas, Texas, in the August heat. The hit movie was famously given an X-rating due to the graphic violence, and had to be re-edited to remove some of the gore to get it down to an R-rating.
According to theThe Hollywood Reporter, Paul Verhoeven’sRobocopwill return to theaters for a one-night only event on September 10th, 2017, that will be live-streamed from the realOCP Headquartersshooting location, aka City Hall in Dallas, Texas. Peter Weller will be on hand for a Q and A after the screening that will get “beamed intoRoboCopMovie Party screenings across the country.” The exclusive event in Dallas will take place at the Alamo Drafthouse and promises OCP photo ops as well as an interactive ticket and food trucks that will contain more than rudimentary paste.
RoboCopwas written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner after Neumeier walked past a poster forBlade Runnerin the early 1980s. The writer asked his friend what the movie was about and his friend replied, “It’s about a cop hunting robots.” That was enough of a spark for Neumeier who immediately went to work writing the story. In anotherweird twist of fate, it has been rumored that the writer was able to pitch the movie while being stranded at an airport with some high-ranking movie executives and the seed was planted forRoboCop.
As far as casting was concerned, Peter Weller was not the first choice.Arnold Schwarzeneggerwas the obvious choice as he’d already played a cyborg and had the cyborg cred, but apparently he would have been too big to fit into theRoboCopsuit made from hockey gear. Weller was chosen because Verhoeven felt that the actor could convey better facial expressions with the lower half of his face. Additionally, Weller’s frame fit the suit much better and it would have been redundant to have another Austrian cyborg or half cyborg, whatever. It took nearly 10 months to get theRoboCopsuit made and fitted after repeated casts of Weller’s body were made and then Weller had to figure out an appropriate way to move in the suit.
RoboCopopened at number one at the box office and ended up earning over $53 million domestically, making it the 16th most successful movie of 1987. As time goes on the action movie gains in popularity, but sequels and reboots have yet to match the magic of the original movie. The one-night only special screening is presented by Birth.Movies.Death, SYFY Network, and the Alamo Draft House. You can go to Birth.Movies.Death.com for ticketing and screening information for the 30th anniversary ofRoboCopthat is set to take place on September 10th.
