i have to say i'm slightly at odds over this too. DA is one of my favourite filmmakers at the moment and i think anything he applies himself too would be brilliant, however this is the season of the remake (when will it end?) and we need the likes of DA to put his mind onto something original.

however, just look at what Nolan has done with Batman. he's rejuvinated the 'franchise' (god, i hate that word) and made it better than ever before. i imagine DA would do something similar with Robocop - and ultimately i think it'd be high quality stuff. also the original was great, i reckon DA would add that little something extra to it.

I've never really been a fan of RoboCop, although the first film isn't that bad. I think a remake would need to be of a darker tone, in a realistic bleak future... I'm thinking along the lines of Escape from New York. I think Aronofsky would make a brilliant helmer for the film.

The question is... do we really need ANOTHER REMAKE?

Hi,

I was the "idiot" who asked the question.
My "fumbling and bad phrased" question was as follows: When I heard they were remaking Robocop - I thought why? And then when I heard you were attached to it - I thought why? So could you answer my questions - why?

Aronofsky had a perfect opportunity to say the reasons he thought it was something he could do a great deal with.

My fear is that the original is a classic - and how many remakes where the original has been a classic have surpassed it?

It's disappointing that a director so full of originality is resting on his laurels and going down Hollywood's lazy street called Remake Road. And more to the point - he's not trying to turn Chicken Shit into Chicken Salad (Ocean's 11 for example). But he's trying to take a really good film and better it. I can't think of any time anyone has ever done that successfully.

I get both points, but I have to point to what Nolan has done to Batman. He has taken it somewhere really gritty and dark and not rested on any laurels but is really using the Batman 'franchise' to tell stories that he is interested in. His Batman films have far more depth and meaning to them than anything that came before, plus they were entertaining, well acted and well made to boot.

Do we need another remake? Of course we dont, but that never stopped anyone from making them. Do we need good, interesting stories- always. And Aronofsky is one of the best around to do that these days. If he wants to use Robocop as a platform to do that, I trust him to take the story somewhere really dark and interesting.

I'd argue that the Tim Burton's Batmans were good - not genre defining or classics. More to the point - was Aronofsky so intimidated by the question that he couldn't have turned it round and got me really excited about the project?
The interview was mainly a love-in, kissing his ass. It took a member of the audience to ask a pertinent question that he balked at. PRETTY LAME.

I still think that's a really badly phrased question, and a couple of people who were in the audience at the time I talked to agree.

It would have been better to ask a more pointed question rather than such an open ended one, especially one that could have multiple meanings inferred from the Aronofsky-why point. One could read that as insulting towards Aronofsky, and that could be the way he heard it.

Also, understanding that everyone is asking him that question, it didn't have to be the opener.

Burton's first Batman was excellent, his second not so as he fell fowl of the multiple baddies and too cartoon like characters.

Nolan's have dropped all of those and really concentrated on making a thriller first and then a superhero film out the back.

Now imagine that treatment given to RoboCop. An entirely new take, realistic, gritty, and intelligent, with some strong moralistic issues in there too and Aronofsky directing. I think that's great.

I'm against remakes as much as the next person, but the intelligent remake for a reason I'm not, and this could well be it.

Oh and I do think I was a bit strong saying "idiot", my apologies for that.

I was at the Q&A. The Robocop question was the one everyone went to hear/ask. The way it was handled by the questioner was shocking to say the least.

I am afraid your phrasing of the question was poor and, as Richard has stated, came off as condescending and arrogant. I'm sure if I was working on the early stages of this movie project and had some random guy call my integrity in to question in that manner I'm sure I'd tell you where to go stick your answer also. The presumption of negativity in such a loaded question was never likely to encourage Aronofsky to be open and candid.

The hostility was uncalled for on the questioners part and it's no wonder Aronofsky shut down as a result. That he was more open to AICN only a week later on the same subject only compounds that.

As a result we were left without any potential scoop which will now go to someone else. What a waste. I hope you don't conduct all your interviews in such an unprofessional manner.