RoboCop gets Amazon series order with James Wan producing
Amazon MGM Studios has ordered a RoboCop series from showrunner Peter Ocko and Blumhouse Atomic Monster, with James Wan executive producing.
By Poppy Nakagawa · Culture Writer
3 min read
RoboCop is heading for television under Amazon MGM Studios, with Peter Ocko set as showrunner and James Wan among the executive producers through Blumhouse Atomic Monster.
The new series has been ordered after a long development run, according to Deadline. Its setup puts a major technology company at the center of the action: the corporation persuades a city to add a powerful robot to its police department, with the machine carrying the consciousness of a respected officer who died in the line of duty.
Ocko, whose credits include Lodge 49, was attached in 2024 as writer, executive producer and showrunner. Wan, best known for horror and genre work, is executive producing alongside Michael Clear and Rob Hackett through Blumhouse Atomic Monster. Danielle Bozzone will oversee the project for the company as co-executive producer.
Ed Neumeier, who co-created and co-wrote the 1987 RoboCop film directed by Paul Verhoeven, is also on board as an executive producer.
Amazon’s MGM vault keeps opening
The RoboCop order is part of Amazon’s wider push to mine MGM titles after buying the studio in 2022. Deadline reported in 2023 that RoboCop was in the first group of MGM properties being eyed for series development, along with Legally Blonde, Barbershop, Stargate, The Magnificent Seven, Poltergeist and Fame.
Other MGM titles, including Pink Panther and The Thomas Crown Affair, were reported as being steered toward feature remakes instead.
RoboCop now joins several MGM-based projects that have moved forward as shows. The Legally Blonde prequel Elle has already been renewed for a second season, while Barbershop is also set for Prime Video. The Magnificent Seven is for MGM+.
Amazon recently chose not to proceed with a previously ordered Stargate series, according to Deadline, and is now searching for a new writer for that property.
A cyborg cop with a long screen history
The RoboCop franchise began with the 1987 film starring Peter Weller as Alex Murphy, a Detroit police officer who is fatally wounded while on duty and turned into the cyborg lawman known as RoboCop.
The original film was followed by RoboCop 2 in 1990 and RoboCop 3 in 1993. A remake arrived in 2014.
Wan said he has been a longtime fan of the franchise and called the chance to help bring it to television “a dream.” He said Verhoeven’s 1987 film was ahead of its time in the way it dealt with technology, identity and corporate power, and said the new team wants to honor the original while building a new version for a global audience.
Peter Friedlander, Amazon MGM Studios’ head of global television, said RoboCop has resonated for nearly 40 years as both action entertainment and a pointed look at technology and power. He credited Ocko with creating a take that keeps the spirit of the original while aiming for a fresh version for Prime Video viewers.
This story draws on original reporting from Deadline.