Amazon orders Robocop TV series as franchise heads to Prime Video

[Shawn Knight]

In brief: Amazon has greenlit a new series based on the Robocop franchise. The Prime Video series has reportedly been in development since 2022 when Amazon acquired MGM for $8.45 billion. Amazon hasn't announced a cast, nor do we have a scheduled release date meaning its debut is likely years away. Still, for fans of the franchise, it is an exciting development that could continue the legacy of the original for years to come.

Robocop has been entertaining audiences for nearly four decades. The first film in the series debuted in 1987, starring Peter Weller as a half-man, half-machine cyborg law enforcement officer. The movie is considered by many as one of the best from the 80s, spawning two sequels as well as a number of video game tie-ins, TV shows, and even a proper reboot in 2014 that did well at the box office.

Peter Ocko will serve as executive producer, showrunner, and writer for the initial eight-episode run. James Wan, Michael Clear, and Ed Neumeier were also mentioned in an X post from Amazon MGM Studios as co-executive producers. Variety notes that Michael Miner will also co-produce.

– Amazon MGM Studios (@AmazonMGMStudio) July 21, 2026

Neumeier and Miner both served as writers on the original Robocop film. Wan is perhaps best known for directing the first Saw film in 2004, and Ocko has worked on popular shows including The Office and Pushing Daisies.

Peter Friedlander, head of global television for Amazon MGM Studios, told Variety that Octo has created a vision that honors what made the original so enduring while building something entirely fresh for today.

Wan added that he has been a massive fan of the Robocop series since the beginning, and that getting brought on to bring the new project to television is a dream. "What 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," he said.

The most recent development in the franchise came in 2023 with the release of Robocop: Rogue City, a first-person shooter from developer Teyon. The game was generally well received by critics, although a 2025 expansion had more mixed reviews.

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Amazon orders Robocop TV series as franchise heads to Prime Video

 

[NumberNine]

Hey look, it's Buckaroo Bonzai!

 

[GeoffreyA]

I do love the 1987 original, but find the obsessive drive to turn everything into a TV series tiresome. On the bright side, the world needs a bit of satire in our age of OCP.

Edit. I remember watching the sanitised series of the '90s. It was entertaining but lacked the grittier side of the films. There was a child character who frequently interacted with Murphy, lending itself to the family-friendly nature of the series. RAMSET was superb, though.

 

[seeprime]

Will Amazon dumb this down like they did with their half-billion dollar series adaptation of Lord of the Rings? I bet a dollar they do. I hope I lose this bet.

 

[GeforcerFX]

The game and expansion from a few years ago are fun AA gems.

 

[umeng2002]

It's gunna suck

 

[Xelions]

"I'd buy that for a dollar!"

No I fu#$ing won't!

This won't go well! Seriously... I've seen way too many shows in the 'similar' genre go belly up and last 1-2 seasons. Last show I thought that would make the distance, Almost Human was a good take on futuristic detective + android. We don't need RoboCop. We should have Stargate and they axed that.

RoboCop belongs in the 80s and should remain there with that gritty edge and attack style. Cyber punk blade runner esque is here to stay in that genre -

Trying to recapture that type of glory that RC achieved will fail! Terminator failed to recapture their glory days.

These execs must have sh#$ for brains when it comes to making smart financially balanced decisions that make good shows last.

 

[Xelions]

The game and expansion from a few years ago are fun AA gems.

Gaming and TV are 2 different mediums and I feel like it's easier to go from TV to Gaming than it is to go from Gaming to TV

 

[Mowserx]

“ … starring Peter Weller as a half-man, half-machine cyborg law enforcement officer.”.

I was going to make a snarky comment that the ratio was nowhere close to 50/50, but I guess it comes down to how you define what a man is.

 

[Megalomaniac]

RoboCop as a big budget movie with cutting edge puppeteering works but it’s already been done. The franchise fizzled out as a show and an animated series.

RoboCop has already shown us how technology was going to be used in law enforcement and there aren’t many ideas left.

I’ll give it a try but I expect it to end up being a cross between LAW & ORDER SVU and RoboCop when action sequences are needed.

RoboCop is a walking tank and crime lab.

He can run prints, review surveillance cameras, process DNA kits and all types of other things in just the opening credits.

If the show was written to potential: RoboCop would be unstoppable and every one would be in jail.

 

[GeoffreyA]

“ … starring Peter Weller as a half-man, half-machine cyborg law enforcement officer.”.

I was going to make a snarky comment that the ratio was nowhere close to 50/50, but I guess it comes down to how you define what a man is.

Murphy's quest was really about rediscovering his covered-up humanity.

 

[RaXelliX]

F you Amazon for screwing over Stargate. Again.

 

[Psycho Killer]

If they place it in an 80's looking world, with the same grit, dark comedy, and aesthetic (CRT's, no cell phones, trashy looking extras, etc.), it may be good enough for a couple of seasons.
If they lean more on the 2014 variant (almost no humor and took itself way too serious), or try to move to a more current setting, they might release a single season, but it will fail.

 

[OortCloud]

Amazon's woeful screen writers target another beloved fanchise for their special brand of enshitification.