Amazon has reportedly ordered a new ‘RoboCop’ series.
It’ll expand on the world of the 1987 movie.
Peter Ocko will write the initial script, with James Wan producing.
It’s been a couple of years since we heard much about the developing new series based on 1987’s cyborg law enforcement thriller satire ‘RoboCop’.
Now, via a profile of Amazon’s Head of Global Television, Peter Friedlander, word arrives that the company has greenlit the show.
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Peter Ocko, whose TV CV includes work on shows such as ‘Dead Like Me’ and ‘Lodge 49’, is aboard to serve as executive producer on the series, while genre filmmaker James Wan will produce.
The movie franchise kicked off in 1987 with the first ‘Robocop’ film starring Peter Weller as the titular half man, half machine officer. Weller returned for the sequel in 1990, with Robert Burke taking over the role for ‘Robocop 3’ in 1993.
A reboot starring Joel Kinnaman was released in 2014. There have also been multiple ‘Robocop’ TV shows since then, including two animated and two live-action shows, as well as video games and comic books.
What will the new ‘RoboCop’ series be about?
From the sounds of its official logline, the series will be following a familiar path: “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.”
Will we buy that for a dollar? It remains to be seen…
‘RoboCop’. Photo: Orion Pictures.
Selected Movies and TV Shows in the ‘RoboCop’ Franchise:
Owen Wilson as Jack in ‘Secret Headquarters’ from Paramount Pictures.
While Marvel and DC certainly have a stronghold on releasing popular superhero movies, Hollywood has produced its own original superhero films over the years.
For example, the original superhero movie ‘Secret Headquarters‘ premieres on Paramount+ August 12th and stars Owen Wilson and Michael Pena. In honor of ‘Secret Headquarters,’ Moviefone is counting down the ten best original superhero movie of all time.
To qualify for this list, the movie must include superheroes but cannot be based on a previously published book, comic book, or other type of media.
When New York architect Matt Saunders (Luke Wilson) dumps his new girlfriend Jenny Johnson (Uma Thurman) – a smart, sexy and reluctant superhero known as G-Girl – she uses her powers to make his life a living hell!
After his father, an assassin, is brutally murdered, Nick Gant (Chris Evans) vows revenge on Division, the covert government agency that dabbles in psychic warfare and experimental drugs. Hiding in Hong Kong’s underworld, Nick assembles a band of rogue psychics dedicated to destroying Division. Together with Cassie (Dakota Fanning), a teenage clairvoyant, Nick goes in search of a missing girl and a stolen suitcase that could be the key to accomplishing their mutual goal.
Hancock (Will Smith) is a down-and-out superhero who’s forced to employ a PR expert (Jason Bateman) to help repair his image when the public grows weary of all the damage he’s inflicted during his lifesaving heroics. The agent’s idea of imprisoning the antihero to make the world miss him proves successful, but will Hancock stick to his new sense of purpose or slip back into old habits? Also starring Charlize Theron.
Three high school students (Dane DeHaan, Alex Russell, and Michael B. Jordan) make an incredible discovery, leading to their developing uncanny powers beyond their understanding. As they learn to control their abilities and use them to their advantage, their lives start to spin out of control, and their darker sides begin to take over.
After his wife falls under the influence of a drug dealer, an everyday guy transforms himself into Crimson Bolt (Rainn Wilson), a superhero with the best intentions, though he lacks for heroic skills. Also starring Elliot Page, Liv Tyler, and Kevin Bacon.
Dr. Peyton Westlake (Liam Neeson) is on the verge of realizing a major breakthrough in synthetic skin when his laboratory is destroyed by gangsters. Having been burned beyond recognition and forever altered by an experimental medical procedure, Westlake becomes known as Darkman, assuming alternate identities in his quest for revenge and a new life with a former love (Frances McDormand).
An ordinary man (Bruce Willis) makes an extraordinary discovery when a train accident leaves his fellow passengers dead — and him unscathed. The answer to this mystery could lie with the mysterious Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), a man who suffers from a disease that renders his bones as fragile as glass.
In a violent, near-apocalyptic Detroit, evil corporation Omni Consumer Products wins a contract from the city government to privatize the police force. To test their crime-eradicating cyborgs, the company leads street cop Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) into an armed confrontation with crime lord Boddicker (Kurtwood Smith) so they can use his body to support their untested RoboCop prototype. But when RoboCop learns of the company’s nefarious plans, he turns on his masters. Also starring Karen Allen, Ronny Cox, and Miguel Ferrer.
Bob Parr (Craig T. Nelson) has given up his superhero days to log in time as an insurance adjuster and raise his three children (Sarah Vowell, Spencer Fox, and Eli Fucile and Maeve Andrews) with his formerly heroic wife (Holly Hunter) in suburbia. But when he receives a mysterious assignment, it’s time to get back into costume.
The “District 9” and “Chappie” direct had been attached to a sequel to the 1987 original, but has left the project due to scheduling issues.
Original writers Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner wrote a sequel script to their 1987 film. “Robocop” director Paul Verhoeven was reportedly not interested, but Blomkamp took up the mantle.
But on Twitter, Blomkamp revealed that he has exited the project to focus on a “new horror/thriller.” And unfortunately, MGM wasn’t willing to wait for him:
The original “Robocop” starred Peter Weller as a mortally injured police officer whose life is saved when he’s turned into a half-cyborg. RoboCop fought crime in Detroit, though he was also plagued by memories of his previous married life.
It was followed by two unmemorable sequels and then a reboot in 2014 with director Jose Padilla and star Joel Kinnaman. It didn’t catch on with audiences in the U.S. (though it did make $240 worldwide and performed well in China).
When he first joined the sequel project, Blomkamp told Deadline that the story of “RoboCop” had a huge effect on his childhood and now what really resonates is the theme of “identity, and the search for identity.”
He added, “What draws me now is someone searching for their lost identity, taken away at the hands of people who are benefiting from it, and seeing his memory jogged by events. That is most captivating.”
Special effects technology has advanced to the point where there’s pretty much no idea too crazy that it can’t be brought to life on the big screen. But just because you have all that power doesn’t necessarily mean you should use it. That’s been one of the lessons of the “Mission: Impossible” franchise over the years.
These movies prove that the best way to stand the test of time is to do things the old fashioned way and use practical effects over fancy computers.
MGM is hoping once again to jumpstart franchise that began with the 1987 classic action flick, this time with director Neill Blomkamp (“District 9,” “Chappie”) at the helm of “RoboCop Returns.
Original writers Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner wrote a sequel script to their 1987 film that is being reworked by Justin Rhodes (co-writer of the upcoming “Terminator”).
The original movie, directed by Paul Verhoeven, starred Peter Weller as a mortally injured police officer whose life is saved when he’s half-turned into a cyborg. RoboCop fought crime in Detroit, though he was also plagued by memories of his previous married life.
It was followed by two unmemorable sequels and then a reboot in 2014 with director Jose Padilla and star Joel Kinnaman. It didn’t catch on with audiences in the U.S. (though it did make $240 worldwide and performed well in China).
Blomkamp told Deadline that the story of “RoboCop” had a huge effect on his childhood and now what really resonates is the theme of “identity, and the search for identity.”
He added, “What draws me now is someone searching for their lost identity, taken away at the hands of people who are benefiting from it, and seeing his memory jogged by events. That is most captivating.”
