How One PG-13 Sci-Fi Movie Destroyed An R-Rated Franchise

By Drew Dietsch
| Published 3 seconds ago

You know what I should talk about more? Sci-fi movies from the ‘90s. I feel like I haven’t given that niche genre enough attention. 

Obviously, I love ‘90s cinema as many of our videos prove, and the sci-fi of the decade is a particular favorite genre. But I have another qualifier to add: franchise films. I find franchise filmmaking fascinating from a certain point of view.

While it can be fun and creatively stimulating to talk about canon and carryover characters and all the direct art involved in franchise films, it’s more intriguing to me to look at franchise movies from their strategic standpoints.

Specifically, what are these different movies attempting to do both collectively and individually when it comes to their franchise mindset?

Basically, what is an identifiable success point a franchise film entry is trying to achieve? Other than, you know, buttloads of cash.

Our subject today is a franchise sequel that many fans and casual audiences saw exactly what it was trying to achieve and rejected it, putting its movie franchise on ice for over two decades.

This is why RoboCop 3 failed.

RoboCop 3 And Why It Failed

Alright, let’s get personal real quick. RoboCop is my second favorite film of all time. It’s a movie that I could talk about forever and why it’s so personal to me, but we’ve got a failure to analyze. If you’d like to see that kind of video, make sure to mention that in the comments.

Suffice to say, RoboCop is a well-established genre classic that, if you haven’t seen it, you’re depriving yourself of an effects blockbuster that takes as much care with its story and characters as it does the action and comedy.

As far as RoboCop 2 is concerned, we’re only going to talk about it as it relates to RoboCop 3. If you’d like to hear my thoughts on RoboCop 2, check out the GenreVision movie club episode we did on it for our We Are the Robots theme month. 

RoboCop 2 is important to the story of both RoboCop 3’s production and actual in-movie story. RoboCop 2 was mostly written by Frank Miller, one of the most celebrated comic book writers and artists of the ‘80s. 

In June 1990, when Orion Pictures was about to release RoboCop 2, the studio gave the greenlight to two more movies. Since you won’t find a RoboCop 4 out there, you can guess how things are already headed. 

Frank Miller had a tumultuous time during RoboCop 2’s production but returned for RoboCop 3, even though his screenplay would get handed to another writer, who would also end up directing the film.

Fred Dekker got the job and he was certainly qualified when it comes to being a legitimate genre fan. He had written and directed the delightful Universal Monsters homage, The Monster Squad, and Night of the Creeps, a movie I’ve recommended on this channel in a video pretty much nobody watched.

Basically, Fred Dekker was someone who genuinely loved this stuff. But, his script had another major creative influence, one that would end up being a significant factor in RoboCop 3 being disliked by fans.

Orion Pictures had been able to turn the success from the first RoboCop into a merchandise cash cow, capitalizing with toys, comic books, video games, and even an ‘80s cartoon.

By the time RoboCop 3 was underway, Orion wanted to better their chances at the box office by making sure RoboCop 3 could sell tickets to as many potential theater patrons as possible. That meant RoboCop 3 would be the first film in the franchise to actively aim for a PG-13 rating.

Real quick aside:

Moving on, RoboCop 3 would abandon the graphic violence of the first two films in favor of courting younger viewers. This was a prime directive from Orion to Fred Dekker. So, for all the problems people load on this movie, I have nothing but empathy when it comes to Dekker’s situation.

It didn’t help that RoboCop himself, actor Peter Weller, was not available for the sequel because he was busy making a wonderful David Cronenberg nightmare instead. And there are worthwhile reports about Weller being too expensive for Orion to afford for another sequel. I’m willing to believe some part of that considering the ultimate fate of Orion Pictures which ties directly to RoboCop 3.

RoboCop 3’s production began in February of 1991 and concluded in May that same year, with the film’s intended release set for mid-1992, giving the effects-heavy movie lots of post-production and marketing time.

However, Orion Pictures ended up having to close up shop and declare bankruptcy before they could facilitate the release of RoboCop 3, leaving the movie as part of an asset sale. Because of this, RoboCop 3 wouldn’t see a U.S. release until November 1993, debuting in international markets earlier that year thanks to a previous deal with Columbia Pictures.

As you can see, there were a lot of foundational issues RoboCop 3 had that were pretty much dooming it every step of the way. If the movie itself had been able to overcome those obstacles, maybe it would’ve found more appreciation.

And I’ll admit, when judging RoboCop 3 as its own singular thing, not as a RoboCop movie, it’s mostly okay for a kid’s sci-fi movie about the crossroads of capitalism and fascism.

Robert Burke stands in for Peter Weller and it’s just not happening. Again, I also don’t envy Burke having to step in for the series’ lead actor. And the role can often be a thankless and effectively faceless one, but he just doesn’t have the spark of Alex Murphy in him.

There are positive elements worth highlighting in RoboCop 3. We get a number of great character actors like Stephen Root, the awesome CCH Pounder, and my personal favorite, Rip Torn. Plus, maestro Basil Poledouris is back after not being used for RoboCop 2, so at least we’ve got that iconic theme back and another score from one of cinema’s greatest composers. 

There’s a lot going on in RoboCop 3’s story and that’s certainly one of its problems, like when it’s trying to shove an android assassin into the mix, but the best and key plot centers around the poor of Detroit being forcibly thrown out of their homes for the eventual construction of a proposed utopia called Delta City.

This is the movie’s best bit of commentary as we see fascist soldiers called Urban Rehabilitation a.k.a. Rehabs being nothing but stormtroopers, and then seeing them portrayed as heroic action figures in one of the franchise’s trademark in-world commercials.

But as poignant as that story thread could be, the rest of the movie is a mess. There’s an oddly resonant plot for Orion Pictures themselves where OCP, the evil mega-corporation from the first two films, is being sold off and taken over by another company. This does lead to a few moments of welcome dark comedy but it doesn’t really matter to the story. 

There’s also a stereotypical brainy kid character in this that’s annoying, and RoboCop spends a lot of the movie on the sidelines, and they kill Nancy Allen’s Lewis for no good reason.

Look, there’s just a lot about RoboCop 3 that either doesn’t work or is dumb but not in a fun way. And after sitting on the shelf for too long, it was clear audiences could smell something was up.

RoboCop 3 unfortunately but somewhat appropriately opened at #3 at the box office in 1993 behind a #1 movie in its third week of wide release, The Nightmare Before Christmas. I guess Schoolhouse Rock was right: three is a magic number.

It ended its run in North America with only $10 million dollars to show for it, less than half of its reported budget. And the fallout from the film’s failure would see Fred Dekker sent to director jail from whence he has never returned. Yes, RoboCop 3 killed Fred Dekker’s directing career.

It would also kill the future of RoboCop movies for over twenty years until a reboot hit theaters in 2014.

RoboCop 3 failed for so many reasons. The studio imposed bad creative decisions at the same time they were falling apart financially, the series lead got recast, and the final movie simply didn’t offer anything more than audiences felt they’d already got out of the franchise.

When it’s all said and done, I don’t think RoboCop 3 is a horrendous movie but it feels like a weak episode of a RoboCop TV series. Oh no, please don’t make me watch the RoboCop TV series. Am I going to see a bunch of comments begging for a video on the RoboCop series? Will you liking this video put that evil on me?

If you do enjoy torturing me, you better subscribe to the channel. That’s the only way you can ensure my continued RoboCop suffering. Thank you for your cooperation and we’ll see you next time here on Giant Freakin Robot.

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