I’d buy that for a dollar! RoboCop TV show in the works at Prime Video

The most iconic copper in all of science fiction is set to make a comeback, with Amazon looking to develop a TV show around the RoboCop franchise for its Amazon Prime streaming platform.

According to a new report from Deadline, Amazon’s MGM Studios has lined up Peter Ocko (whose credits include The Office, Black Sails and most recently Lodge 49) as writer, executive producer and showrunner, while modern horror master James Wan (Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring) will executive produce through his Atomic Monster group.

Wan’s involvement feels particularly pertinent, given his predominately horror-focussed output, suggesting that the eventual RoboCop series might lean a little more heavily towards body horror than previous instalments.

But so far Amazon looks set to steer the show relatively closely to the established RoboCop narrative, where a half-man, half-robot police officer joins battle-hardened cops on lawless American streets.

RoboCop first hit screens in 1987, and starred Peter Weller, directed by Paul Verhoeven. Its B-movie premise was elevated by an iconic production design and darkly comic overtones — Verhoeven dialled up the uber-violence to almost comedic effect.

On a relatively small budget it became a global smash hit, and spawned two direct sequels and a TV show in the 1990s, as well as an ill-fated 2014 reboot. Here’s hoping Amazon learns a thing or two from that disaster, which overly sanitised the film, leaving it devoid of the personality that saw Robocop thrive.

If you can’t wait for some more RoboCop action, you could do a lot worse than check out the fantastic RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop behind the scenes documentary, which reunited cast and crew to discuss the making of the film in 2023.

It’s available to rent on all good streaming platforms right now. RoboCop: Rogue City came out in late 2023 for PlayStation, Xbox and PC systems, and is a surprisingly tight shooter that captures the spirit of the films well, too.

• Want another 80s flick fix? Check out our Shortlist of the best films of the 1980s