Amazon Greenlights Eight-Episode RoboCop TV Series with James Wan and Peter Ocko

Amazon MGM Studios has officially greenlit an eight-episode, live-action television series based on the iconic RoboCop science-fiction franchise. The project, which had been in development as a pilot, has now received a straight-to-series order as Amazon continues to leverage the library of intellectual properties it acquired in its multi-billion-dollar purchase of MGM.

Industry veteran Peter Ocko has been tapped to serve as the writer, executive producer, and showrunner for the upcoming series. Ocko’s diverse television portfolio includes writing and producing credits on acclaimed series such as The Leftovers, Pushing Daisies, and The Office, as well as serving as the showrunner for AMC’s cult favorite comedy-drama Lodge 49.

Joining Ocko is prominent filmmaker James Wan, the co-creator of the Saw franchise and director of blockbuster hits like Aquaman and The Conjuring. Wan will executive produce the series under his Atomic Monster production banner. Notably, Ed Neumeier, who co-wrote the original 1987 film, is also attached as an executive producer, maintaining a direct creative link to the franchise’s origins.

The new series represents a major step in Amazon’s broader strategy to revitalize classic Hollywood properties. Following Amazon’s $8.5 billion acquisition of MGM, the tech giant has actively mined the historic studio’s catalog, initiating television and film developments for other major franchises, including Tomb Raider, Legally Blonde, and Poltergeist.

The original 1987 film, directed by Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven, is widely regarded as a masterpiece of sci-fi satire. Set in a dystopian, near-future Detroit, the film followed Alex Murphy, a police officer brutally murdered by a street gang and subsequently resurrected by the megacorporation Omni Consumer Products (OCP) as a cyborg law enforcement officer. The film was highly praised for its sharp critique of corporate greed, privatization of public services, media saturation, and the militarization of local police forces.

In a statement regarding the project, Wan emphasized the enduring relevance of the original film’s themes. “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,” Wan said.

Over the nearly four decades since its debut, the RoboCop franchise has spawned two direct theatrical sequels, multiple animated series, and previous live-action television adaptations in the 1990s. In 2014, MGM released a theatrical reboot directed by José Padilha and starring Joel Kinnaman, which grossed over $240 million worldwide but struggled to replicate the critical acclaim of the original. The intellectual property has also remained active in the gaming sector, most recently with the 2023 release of the video game RoboCop: Rogue City, which received strong reviews from fans and critics alike for its faithful recreation of the original film’s atmosphere.

Amazon has not yet announced a casting lineup or a projected release window for the series.