After originally gaining steam in late 2024, Amazon MGM’s RoboCop reboot looks to be stuck in development.
A new report from The Ankler has taken a look at Amazon MGM exec Peter Friedlander’s various plans to remake and reboot properties owned by the studio.
Among the properties is a RoboCop reboot, which previously tapped Lodge 49‘s Peter Ocko to write, executive produce and showrun the series in September 2024 and that sources report “had been passed on by the previous administration after an extended time in development.”
The report further stated that Friedlander “has been working with Prime Video executives to hear out their pitches” for the sci-fi action franchise, but no major steps forward have been made just yet.
Another source added that the executive is “quietly being decisive on creating matters…he’s watching cuts and wanting to make great stuff” at Amazon.
Despite Friedlander joining the company back in October as the head of global television (after working at Netflix), there are still several important positions that have yet to be filled, including the head of scripted content.
“He’s quietly being decisive on creative matters. I’m encouraged by the decisions being creative-led; he’s watching cuts and wanting to make great stuff.”
Until that happens, the organization will reportedly remain a “chaotic and confusing” place,” according to an unnamed literary agent.
“Even with Peter coming in, it’s still a byzantine place to get a straight answer of what the vision is and who to take stuff to. It’s chaotic and confusing.”
This indicates that development on a potential RoboCop reboot will likely stay slow-moving for the foreseeable future.
The first RoboCop premiered in 1987 and starred Peter Weller as a police officer named Alex Murphy who becomes a cyborg (the titular RoboCop) after being murdered.
The film, which has had a major influence on pop culture and the sci-fi genre over the past 39 years, grossed $53 million at the box office and is Certified Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with an 84% score from both critics and audiences.
A sequel was released three years later, followed by RoboCop 3 in 1993. While the second installment did well at the box office, with $45 million, the threequel underwhelmed with a total gross of only $10 million. Critically, both films were panned, with respective Rotten Tomatoes ratings of 31% and 20%.
Multiple TV shows, animated and live-action alike, were released from the late 1980s to the early 2000s.
MGM and Sony then developed a RoboCop remake, directed by José Padilha, that came out in 2014 with stars Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton and Samuel L. Jackson. It failed to set the box office on fire, grossing $242 million against a reported budget of $100 million.
Reviews for the sci-fi movie remake of RoboCop were very mixed, with a 50% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite initial reports saying otherwise, a sequel never materialized.
Now Amazon MGM is looking to reboot RoboCop again, this time as a TV show. Unfortunately, this latest update reveals that the franchise’s future is currently stuck in development, with Friedlander still fielding pitches.
- Created by
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Edward Neumeier, Michael Miner
- First TV Show
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RoboCop: The Animated Series
- First Episode Air Date
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September 10, 1988
RoboCop is a science fiction action franchise centered around the character Alex Murphy, a Detroit police officer who is brutally murdered and subsequently resurrected as a cyborg law enforcement officer known as RoboCop. The franchise, which began with the 1987 film directed by Paul Verhoeven, is known for its satirical take on corporate greed, corruption, and the dystopian future of law enforcement. Over the years, RoboCop has expanded into sequels, a reboot, television series, animated shows, comic books, and video games, becoming a cultural icon in the genre of sci-fi action.