Kershner had projects that he was going to be involved with in the late 70s and early 80s . He signed on to direct an adaptation of '' I , Robot '' from a script by Harlan Ellison , which was never filmed . Later , he was initially hired by producers Richard Zanuck and David Brown to direct an adaptation of Eric Van Lustbader 's novel '' The Ninja '' from scripts by W.D. Richter and Tom Cole , but the project was cancelled following months of pre-production . After '' Empire Strikes Back '' , Kershner directed '' Never Say Never Again '' ( Sean Connery 's return to the role of James Bond ) , the HBO film '' Traveling Man '' ( starring John Lithgow and Jonathan Silverman , this film earned Kershner an ACE Award nomination ) , and '' RoboCop 2 '' . He also directed the pilot of the television series '' seaQuest DSV '' , and he made his debut as an actor in the Martin Scorsese film '' The Last Temptation of Christ '' ( 1988 ) , in which he played Zebedee , the father of the apostles James and John . He played a film director in Steven Seagal 's '' On Deadly Ground '' . He was a faculty member at the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California . In 2000 he was a member of the jury at the 22nd Moscow International Film Festival
22nd Moscow International Film Festival
22nd Moscow International Film Festival
Irvin Kershner