Robocop is a very much a product of the late-80s. It was a story about a police officer who died then was brought back to life and turned into a cyborg who was an unstoppable force. Although the movie was a violent rated-R romp, it appealed to everyone–even kids–and the franchise saw numerous sequels, TV series, video games, and a reboot movie. Now, there is a new TV show in the works, taking place before Robocop was created.
Writer Ed Neumeier, who penned the original film, explained to Moviehole that a TV series will revolve around Omni Consumer Products and the company’s vice president Dick Jones. “I’m working with these two writers, Dave Parkin and Rob Gibbs, who bought this idea to a TV producer friend of mine, who then brought it to me,” explained Neumeier. “The first time I heard it I knew it was a cool idea because I could see a lot of things you could do with it. It’s such an interesting character.”
The show would take place in Detroit in the near future, following the rise of this corporate giant–one that would eventually lend its tech to the Detroit Police Department which they would use to turn Alex Murphy into Robocop. The series would follow Jones as he slowly becomes the sleazy villain we see in the first film.
However, the road to getting this idea made into an actual TV show is a long and rocky one. “With any luck, if MGM is willing, if we can find the partners, if we can get this pilot made, if we can convince a bunch of people–it’s amazing how many people you have to convince–if that all works out maybe we’ll get a TV show up.”
Luckily, the Robocop prequel series isn’t a huge longshot, as there is another movie in the works for the franchise titled Robocop Returns. Abe Forsythe (Little Monsters) will direct the film–which was originally going to be helmed by District 9’s Neill Blomkamp. Robocop Returns will be a direct sequel to Paul Verhoeven’s classic 1987 film, so a prequel series could be a streaming service companion show, much like how HBO Max’s Gotham series will be one to Matt Reeves’ The Batman.
