In an entertainment industry where more and more 80s franchises are returning to the screen, it was only a matter of time before RoboCop joined the trend. One of the most influential and visionary films of the 80s couldn’t stay out of the current wave of revisiting any minimally exploitable license. This is how RoboCop is back, this time in series format, to enforce the rule of law on the streets of Detroit.
According to Variety, James Wan will be in charge of executive production of this series through his company Atomic Monster. Wan, famous for his work on Saw, Aquaman, and The Conjuring franchise, delves into the world of RoboCop. Alongside him, writer and showrunner Peter Ocko, with credits in series like Lodge 49 and The Office, will join the team to write and oversee the production.
The premise of the series doesn’t seem to deviate much from the original formula: a technological conglomerate partners with the local police department to combat rampant crime with the help of an agent who is part man, part machine. In a context where technology is advancing rapidly and police surveillance is a hotly debated topic, this return of RoboCop could be loaded with social and political relevance.
Image from the TV adaptation of RoboCop
The return to television
For those who may not remember, RoboCop had its foray into television in the 90s. After the success of the original 1987 film directed by Paul Verhoeven, the franchise expanded with a live-action series in 1994. Although it didn’t enjoy the same success as the movie, this version, starring Richard Eden as the iconic cyborg cop, offered a more accessible vision for the youth audience of the time. Unlike the movies, this series avoided the graphic violence that characterized the original films, leaning more towards a family-friendly approach and presenting a ‘softer’ RoboCop in his law enforcement. This series, which had only one season with 22 episodes, stood out for moving away from the brutal social criticism of the original film and for a lighter tone, in line with RoboCop 3 (1993), the PG-13 rated cinematic installment.
RoboCop (2014)
The failed 2014 reboot
The RoboCop universe also attempted to return to the big screen in 2014, with a remake directed by José Padilha and starring Joel Kinnaman as Alex Murphy. The movie veered away from the satire and political criticism that made the 1987 version famous and opted for a PG-13 rating instead of the defining R rating of the classic. Although it managed to gross over 240 million dollars at the global box office, the reception from critics and the audience was mixed. Many fans of the original movie felt that this new version didn’t capture the spirit of RoboCop and lacked that blend of extreme violence and social satire that made the original so memorable. Even Kinnaman himself, in later interviews, admitted that the film didn’t meet fans’ expectations, acknowledging that perhaps they should have listened more to the saga’s followers before diving into filming.
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The concept of RoboCop, that relentless agent seeking justice while grappling with the shadows of his lost humanity, remains as potent today as it was in the 80s. With increasing reliance on technology, surveillance, and artificial intelligence, the debate on how much we should trust machines to enforce the law is more relevant than ever. Can this new series for Amazon capture the complexity and social relevance that made the original a masterpiece? Pending more details on this new production, those who wish to relive the best moments of RoboCop can do so on Prime Video and Filmin.
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