Prime Video greenlights Robocop series adaptation

Amazon Prime Video has greenlit a TV series based on the 1987 film Robocop.

The long-gestating show, which was put into development more than three years ago after Amazon acquired Robocop studio MGM, is being produced by Blumhouse Atomic Monster and Amazon MGM Studios.

Peter Ocko is attached as showrunner on the eight-patr series, with James Wan, Michael Clear and Rob Hackett exec producing. Ed Neumeier and Michael Miner, who co-created the film, are also attached as EP’s.

Robocop tracked the life of a poiceman who is turned into a robot after being fatally injured while working in Detroit.

Following the 1987 original, a sequel premiered in 1990 followed by a third outing for the franchise in 1993. A reboot made it to screen in 2014 while two live action shows have also been created, in addition to a pair of animations based on the franchise.

Wan said: “What [director] Paul Verhoeven created in 1987 was decades ahead of its time, and its questions about technology, identity, and who corporations really serve have only grown more urgent.

“With Peter’s distinctive vision and bold approach to storytelling, and alongside Ed and our partners at Amazon MGM Studios, we’re working to honour what made the original iconic and highlight its relevancy in this modern, tech-driven world, while building something unmistakably new for a global audience.”

Peter Friedlander, head of global TV at Amazon MGM Studios, said: “Robocop is a franchise that has meant something to audiences for nearly four decades — not just as an action spectacle, but as a sharp, provocative mirror of our relationship with technology and power.

“Peter Ocko has crafted a vision that honors the soul of what made the original so enduring while building something entirely fresh and urgent for today. Paired with the cinematic sensibility of James Wan and the team at Blumhouse Atomic Monster, we believe this series will captivate a whole new generation of fans on Prime Video.”

Amazon added: “[Robocop’s] themes of humanity versus technology and the consequences of unchecked corporate power feel more relevant today than ever, making it the ideal property to reimagine for a new era of television.”