Editing RoboCop (section)

=== Conception and writing ===
''RoboCop'' was conceived in the early 1980s by [[Universal Pictures]] junior story executive and aspiring screenwriter [[Edward Neumeier]].{{efn|Attributed to multiple references:<ref name="TheDissolveNeumeier"/><ref name="UproxxRetro"/>{{sfn|Goldberg|1988|p=22}}<ref name="SFX"/>}} A fan of robot-themed science-fiction films, ''[[Star Wars]]'', and action films, Neumeier had developed an interest in mature comic books while researching them for potential adaptation.<ref name="TheDissolveNeumeier"/><ref name="SFX"/>{{sfn|Sammon|1987|p=7}} The 1982 science-fiction film ''[[Blade Runner]]'' was filming on the [[Warner Bros.]] lot behind Neumeier's office, and he unofficially joined the production to learn about filmmaking.<ref name="TheDissolveNeumeier"/>{{sfn|Goldberg|1988|p=22}}<ref name="SFX"/> His work there gave him the idea for ''RoboCop'': "I had this vision of a far-distant, ''Blade Runner''–type world where there was an all-mechanical cop coming to a sense of real human intelligence".<ref name="TheDissolveNeumeier"/>{{sfn|Goldberg|1988|p=22}} He spent the next few nights writing a 40-page outline.<ref name="TheDissolveNeumeier"/>

While researching story submissions for Universal, Neumeier came across a student video by aspiring director Michael Miner.<ref name="EsquireOral"/><ref name="UproxxRetro"/>{{sfn|Goldberg|1988|p=22}} The pair met and discussed their similar concepts: Neumeier's ''RoboCop'' and Miner's robot-themed rock [[music video]]. In a 2014 interview, Miner said that he also had an idea called ''SuperCop''.<ref name="EsquireOral"/><ref name="TheDissolveNeumeier"/>{{sfn|Goldberg|1988|p=22}} They formed a working partnership and spent about two months discussing the idea and two to three months writing together at night and over weekends, in addition to their regular jobs.{{efn|Attributed to multiple references:<ref name="EsquireOral"/><ref name="TheDissolveNeumeier"/>{{sfn|Goldberg|1988|p=22}}<ref name="LATimesNeumeier"/>}} Their collaboration was initially difficult because they did not know each other well, and had to learn how to constructively criticize each other.{{sfn|Goldberg|1988|pp=22–23}}

Neumeier was influenced to [[kill off]] his main character early by the psychological horror film ''[[Psycho (1960 film)|Psycho]]'' (1960), whose main character is killed early in the film. Inspired by comic books and his experience with corporate culture, Neumeier wanted to satirize 1980s business culture. He noted the increasing aggression of American financial services in response to growing Japanese influence and the popularity on [[Wall Street]] of ''[[The Book of Five Rings]]'', a 17th-century book about how to kill more effectively. Neumeier also believed that [[Detroit]]'s declining automobile industry was due to increased bureaucracy. ED-209's malfunction in the OCP boardroom was based on Neumeier's office daydreams about a robot bursting into a meeting and killing everyone.<ref name="TheDissolveNeumeier"/>{{sfn|Sammon|1987|p=7}}<ref name="ViceNeumeier"/> Miner described the film as "comic relief for a cynical time" during the [[President of the United States|presidency]] of [[Ronald Reagan]], when economist "[[Milton Friedman]] and the [[Chicago Boys]] ransacked the world, enabled by Reagan and the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]. So when you have this cop who works for a corporation that insists 'I own you,' and he still does the right thing—that's the core of the film." Neumeier and Miner conceived the in-universe news and advertisement "Media Breaks" that appear throughout ''RoboCop'', and a [[spec script]] was completed by December 1984.<ref name="EsquireOral"/>