RoboCop is coming back out of retirement under a new identity: Colonel RoboCop. The fast-food chain KFC has also released a few commercials introducing Colonel RoboCop, it’s unclear if the man behind the mask is none other than original RoboCop star Peter Weller, but the voice sure sounds like the original OCP android himself. Check them out below and decide for yourself! (via Bloody Disgusting).
RELATED: Neill Blomkamp to Direct RoboCop Returns for MGM!
KFC has enlisted the help of the new colonel after a revolving door of actors, including Reba McEntire and Jason Alexander, have taken on the Colonel Sanders name over the years. Now, it’s RoboCop’s turn to protect the secret recipe and get hungry consumers to eat the colonel’s food, or else.
It was revealed last year that RoboCop will be making a comeback to the big screen in RoboCop Returns, a direct sequel to the original based on an unused RoboCop 2 screenplay b original writers Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner, with rewrites by Justin Rhodes.
Set to be directed by Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium) the synopses for RoboCop Returns reads as follows: Anarchy reigns and the fate of Detroit hangs in the balance as RoboCop makes his triumphant return to fight crime and corruption.
When Blomkamp was asked who he wanted to see playing RoboCop in the new movie, he made it clear that he hoped Peter Weller would reprise his role. Weller returned as RoboCop in the 1990 RoboCop 2, but he didn’t close out the trilogy with RoboCop 3 because he was starring in Naked Lunch.
RELATED: Will Peter Weller Reprise His Role for Neill Blomkamp’s RoboCop Returns?
Paul Verhoeven’s original 1987 classic RoboCop starred Peter Weller as Officer Alex Murphy, who is brutally killed in the line of duty and ultimately resurrected as the cyborg crime fighter. The film garnered $53 million at the box office and three Oscar nominations, winning one for sound effects editing. Weller returned for the 1990 sequel RoboCop 2, directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay co-written by comics fav Frank Miller, which grossed $45 million and was not as well received. RoboCop 3 was made in 1991, but not released until 1993 due to the bankruptcy of Orion Pictures, and the more kid-friendly PG-13 entry directed by Fred Dekker died at the box office with $10 million. A big-budget RoboCop remake was developed in the 2000s with Darren Aronofsky, who left the project which was ultimately helmed by Jose Padilha and grossed $242 million worldwide in 2014 but was poorly reviewed.