About a year and a half ago, Amazon started developing intellectual properties they picked up when they acquired MGM. One of the bigger ones was a holdover from the old Orion Pictures banner that got acquired by MGM when the studio went under in 1999. That property was the part-man, part-machine, Robocop. Amazon recognized the popularity of the franchise, and announced their intention to turn it into a series. After an extended silence, we’re tentatively happy to report on the progress Amazon is making on it.
We say “tentative” because, let’s face it, our beloved Alex Murphy/Robocop has had a rough go of it over the decades. The last time we got a film for Robo was 2014’s attempted reboot that failed to live up to expectations and fell short of getting a sequel. Before that, the last film in the franchise was all the way back in 1993 with “Robocop 3″ and the less said about that train wreck, the better. No Peter Weller, no sale. That is to say, “I wouldn’t buy that for a dollar!”
As for a television series, if Amazon manages to do with it what it did with “Fallout,” then we certainly have cause to rejoice. There was an attempt at doing a full on Robocop TV show back in 1994 with the Canadian produced, “Robocop: The Series.” The name wasn’t really original but then again, neither was the show. It completely stripped away all the violence and dark satire that made the original film so great, resulting in a typical, generic action show you would’ve seen all over syndication back in the mid ’90s. The good part about streaming though is that you can easily make an R-rated series and have Murphy go to town shooting bad guys in the crotch like there’s no tomorrow.
Giving more hope for this upcoming series is that James Wan, the co-creator and director of “Saw,” and director of “The Conjuring,” “Aquaman” and a lot more will be servicing as executive producer. Meanwhile, writing and showrunning duties will be handed to Peter Ocko, whose work on television ranges from writing and producing for “Boston Legal,” “Black Sails,” “The Office,” and the sadly short lived, “Lodge 49.”
At the moment, no further information has been given about the show’s casting or plot. Will it be its own continuity or pick up somewhere in the original timeline? If you’re looking to get a Robocop fix in the meantime, might we recommend the game Robocop: Rogue City which sees Peter Weller voicing the titular hero while also proving to be a darned fun shooter. Now would probably be a good time to use that, “I’d buy that for a dollar” joke, but already used it about two or three paragraphs ago. Also this is my chance to remind you that the 1994 “Robocop: The Series” had a closing theme performed by Lita Ford and Joe Walsh where they’re singing to Robocop and I think at one point Joe Walsh turns into Robocop? It has a music video, life has no meaning.
