Sony has pushed the debut of Jose Padilha’s Robocop reboot back to February 7, 2014 and given the Robocop remake’s prime summer release date of August 9, 2013 to Neill Blomkamp’s science fiction film Elysium.  In 2009 Sony released Blomkamp’s first film District 9 in August (after previewing it at the San Diego Comic Con), and the low-budget sci-fi film turned into a worldwide $210 million hit.

 

Elysium, which stars Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, takes place in a future Earth where the rich inhabit a luxurious space station while the masses struggle on an ecologically-devastated and overcrowded Earth.  Look for Sony to repeat the marketing pattern that it used to great effect on District 9, which was also a science fiction thriller with strong political overtones.

 

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the delay in the release of Robocop (see “Michael Keaton in ‘Robocop’”) will allow more time for post-production: "though that wasn’t the reason for the move."  The Reporter doesn’t explain what the reason was, but part of it undoubtedly comes from Sony’s assessment that Elysium offers a better chance to create a hit.

 

But it is also hard to shake the idea that the Robocop remake is a troubled production.  While the release of set photos showing the new black (plastic looking in comparison to the silver metallic look in the earlier Robocop films) Robocop suit at Comic Vine and other Internet sites has occasioned some fan backlash, it is more likely that Sony decided to push the Robocop reboot to February because the studio hasn’t liked what it has seen from the production so far.  Reports of friction with the studio leaked out when Padilha reportedly described the production process to a director friend as "hell."