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There’s no secret to the fact that MGM and director Darren Aronofsky aren’t seeing eye-to-eye on their planned reboot of RoboCop. We’ve been covering the situation since March 2008, and it is clear that as the project has evolved, the two parties have distinctly different visions for what this franchise relaunch should look like. These problems have been amplified by the recent financial troubles of MGM, and have even allowed Aronofsky to go off and shoot his next film, Black Swan. But even now — two years later — both sides seem intent on making the film happen, despite obvious creative differences. In an interview with STYD, screenwriter David Self said that both he and Aronofsky are still attached to the project, and are looking to move forward sooner than later:

“I’m still involved with it and Darren Aronofsky’s still involved with it. He’s making another movie right now (Black Swan), but we’re waiting for MGM, to sort things out since they’re a large corporation and it’s a situation where we have to be practical. We’re waiting to continue with them, we hope that that happens soon and we can get back to it soon.”

To keep everything in perspective, here’s a quick cheat sheet on what these differences are:

Darren Aronofsky seems to want:

• A hard R-rating, and a serious tone.
• A bigger budget.
• Not 3D.

MGM seems to want:

• Something more financially conservative, so as to minimize risk.
• To stay away from an R-rating, as it minimizes box office potential.
• RoboCop in 3D.

All of this fits into the logical gaps between those who control the money and those who create the art. Of course Darren Aronofsky wants a serious, hard-R film that will play well with the franchise’s die hard fans. And of course he wants to be able to tell that story on a big scale, requiring a bigger budget. And his love loss for 3D is understandable. In many ways, it’s still nothing more than a gimmick.

And of course MGM wants to make it on the cheap, make it accessible and squeeze every dime out of the 3D fad. That’s the easiest way for them to make money. And we all know that they need the money.

Time will tell as to whether this project ever gets off the ground. If it does, there will be compromise, much of which will have to be made by the director.