New RoboCop Series Happening, But Without The Most Important Part
A RoboCop series without RoboCop? What will this TV show be about?
This article is more than 2 years old
A RoboCop series that doesn’t star the title character seems a little loopy, but it sounds like that’s what RoboCop co-writer Ed Neumeier has in store for the franchise. While speaking with Moviehole, Neumeier revealed that he is working on a new television series that would act as a prequel to the events of the original film.
And who would that prequel RoboCop series focus on? Dick Jones, the Senior Vice President of Omni Consumer Products that acted as one of the main antagonists in the first movie. Played expertly by Ronny Cox, Dick Jones is a ruthless corporate shark with no regard for human life or the law. But, was he always that way?
According to Neumeier, this prequel RoboCop series would tell the origin story of Dick Jones as he climbs the corporate ladder at Omni Consumer Products. Neumeier is developing the series with writers Dave Parkin and Rob Gibbs, who came to Neumeier with a backstory for Jones that Neumeier found very compelling.
Neumeier says this prequel RoboCop series would feature all of the hallmarks fans would expect from the RoboCop universe: political satire, social commentary, and science fiction concepts. Neumeier also says the show would explore “all sorts of stories about business and tech, Silicon Valley, corporations, snakes in suits, cops, all that.”
It should be noted that Neumeier is still developing this series and it has not yet been picked up for a pilot episode. MGM will have to sign off on the series proposal. Neumeier and the writers will also have to find partners that are willing to fund the pilot and a potential full series.
A prequel RoboCop series that centers around Dick Jones could be interesting, but it’s going to be a hard sell for folks who want to see RoboCop himself. There is always the possibility that the series could interweave Jones’s story with the rookie cop version of Alex Murphy, the police officer who eventually becomes RoboCop.
However, doing stories about police officers is going to be difficult considering the current atmosphere surrounding militarized policing in the United States and around the world. Of course, the original RoboCop was directly commenting on these issues. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility to see this prequel RoboCop tackles the same problems.
It is unclear if this prequel RoboCop series will have anything to do with the planned RoboCop sequel, RoboCop Returns, which is still being developed by Australian director Abe Forsythe (Little Monsters). It is also unclear what venue this series would land on. Would it be a streaming exclusive series? Or would it find its way to a cable network? The RoboCop universe has a reputation for being extremely violent, so it would depend on if this Dick Jones series would follow in those same footsteps.
Hopefully, we will be getting more news about this prequel RoboCop series. The franchise is in dire need of resuscitation and it would be great to see it get another turn in the spotlight. The original film is a bonafide classic that continues to get better with every passing day. If this new feature film sequel can get off the ground and is successful, it will probably help this potential television series get made.
