Amazon MGM Studios has officially ordered a new series based on the iconic sci-fi action film RoboCop. The report came from entertainment outlet The Ankler, which revealed the project while reviewing Peter Friedlander’s first six months as Amazon’s head of global television.
The new show revisits the cybernetic law enforcer first introduced in director Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 film RoboCop, a brutal and satirical take on law enforcement and corporate power. The original film inspired two sequels in 1990 and 1993, plus a 2014 reboot that struggled to capture the same critical or cultural punch.
One sequel that had many fans excited was Neill Blomkamp’s Robocop Returns, a would-be sequel to Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 original. Blmokamp told JoBlo.com that his version would have emulated Verhoeven’s style, keeping things as accurate to form as possible. “That’s the only film that I would have ever done where I would have tried to basically simulate Paul Verhoeven’s directing style,” said Blomkamp. “I wanted it to feel like it was the day after. Like if Dick Jones fell out of the window on Monday, this would have been Tuesday. It was like literally the next morning that it began. So it was a direct sequel exactly in the same style.”
After Amazon purchased MGM, Robocop Returns got dismantled, and Blomkamp version will likely never happen. Shortly after the acquisition, a new RoboCop project was announced in 2024 with Peter Ocko, known for Pushing Daisies and Dead Like Me, set as showrunner, and horror veteran James Wan attached as producer under Atomic Monster. It is unclear if that lineup remains attached, but reports suggest the story will again center around a powerful tech company partnering with police to create a half-human, half-machine officer designed to restore order to a crime-ridden city.
Fans are less than hopeful Amazon will respect Verhoeven’s gritty and political tone rather than soften it for streaming audiences. Success will depend on whether the series restores the franchise’s hard-edged satire and violent identity that defined the original. If Amazon invests in strong writing, practical effects, the classic designs, and Basil Poledouris’s unforgettable score, there could be real promise. But with no official casting, creative confirmation, or release details, viewers are waiting to see if it can deliver, or if this reboot attempt will go the way of its predecessors.
This will be the character’s fifth time on television, following several earlier attempts including the 1988 animated RoboCop, the 1994 live-action RoboCop: The Series, the 1998 cartoon RoboCop: Alpha Commando, and 2001’s RoboCop: Prime Directives.
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