RoboCopis making his way to streaming, and the new TV series has found some heavy-hitting talent to guide it. Released in 1987 and directed by Paul Verhoeven,RoboCopwas a dark satire about police officer Alex Murphybeing revived after a gruesome murder by megacorporation Omni Consumer Products (OCP) as the titular RoboCop.The film spawned a successful franchise that included two sequels, a 2014 reboot, several television series, video games, comics, and toys. A pop culture staple, it was only a matter of time before the character returned.
Varietyreports that a newRoboCopseries for Prime Video is being developed at Amazon. Peter Ocko will serve as writer, executive producer, and showrunner. Orcko is a veteran writer with a long history in television, having worked on series likeDead Like Me,Pushing Daisies,The Office, andBoston Legal.He will be joined by James Wan, director ofAquaman,The Conjuring, andFurious 7, who is set to executive produce under his Atomic Monster banner. The series will reimage the 1987 film with the logline stating,“A giant tech conglomerate collaborates with the local police department to introduce a technologically advanced enforcer to combat rising crime — a police officer who’s part man, part machine.”
RoboCop’s Long History on the Small Screen
This upcomingRoboCopseries will be the fifth television series based on the character. Despite being an R-rated movie franchise,RoboCophas had two animated series. The first was a 12-episode animated series titledRoboCopin 1988, withRoboCop: Alpha Commandosairing for one season in 1998. There were also two previous live-action series, the first being 1994’s kid-friendlyRoboCopand then a four-ep miniseries titledRoboCop: Prime Directives, which was a spin-off/continuation of the original films.RoboCop: Prime Directivesaired in 2001, so this newRoboCopseries will mark the character’s grand return to television and also enter the streaming age.
RoboCop and Total Recall Director Gives Candid View on Remake Failures
Director Paul Verhoeven recently shared his thoughts on modern remakes of his classic 80s and 90s movies.
Following Amazon’s acquisition of MGM in 2021, the streaming service looked to the film studios' library to create new streaming series and films.RoboCopis the latest in a long line of new projects Amazon has greenlit based on MGM properties,including aLegally Blondeprequel seriesand a series based on the movie franchiseBarbershop. It has been over ten years since the last RoboCop entry, 2014’slargely forgettable reboot starring Joel Kinnaman as Robocop. As other iconic ‘80’s franchises like Predator, Alien, and Terminator have found new life thanks to projects likePrey,Alien: Romulus, andTerminator Zero, respectively, it is time forRoboCopto return.
