Cinedigm has acquired all North American rights to four-part docuseries RoboDoc: The Creation of RoboCop. The series will debut on Screambox, a platform owned by Cinedigm and powered by Bloody Disgusting, in 2023. It will also be available for purchase and rental on other digital platforms soon after. The crowdfunded documentary series has been in the works for more than five years. It features interviews with cast and crew, including Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Ray Wise, and filmmaker Paul Verhoeven. It will tackle not just the production of RoboCop, but also the cultural and artistic imprints left by the cult classic.
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RoboCop is a rare beast, in that it was a crowd-pleasing blockbuster that has also been relentlessly scrutinized and analyzed by scholars in the years since its release. Its satire, and the way it used violence and gore as commentary and comedy, have made it a film school mainstay.
“RoboCop is not only a technological icon but a film that pushed boundaries with its practical effects and excessively violent gore,” said Brad Miska, Managing Director of Bloody Disgusting (via Deadline). “Much of what we see on screen today can be credited to the innovative minds of the 70’s and 80’s. We’re thrilled fans will finally be able to see the story on Screambox next year.”
The RoboCop franchise has generated hundreds of millions of dollars between films, TV, video games, and merchandise. While the last attempt at a reboot was a box office disappointment, that has done little to dim love for the franchise or Hollywood’s interest in finding a way to bring it back to life.
“We’ve crafted something together to incorporate visuals and sound in an effort to immerse viewers into the world of 80s filmmaking and offer something completely unique to the ‘making of’ format,” said co-director Eastwood Allen.
“As a fan of RoboCop for the past 30 years, this project has been a labor of love for me and I can’t wait to share this unique project with the fans, especially those who have stood by us all these years,” added co-director Chris Griffiths.
Produced by Gary Smart, the doc is directed by Chris Griffiths and Eastwood Allen. Smart, Giffiths, and Allen previously collaborated on Pennywise: The Story of IT.
Per the Deadline report, RoboDoc was written by Allen, Griffiths and Smart and produced by Smart, Michael Perez and Hank Starrs, with John Cashin, Gary Collins, Ben KB Ng, Fuad Omar, Aleksandar Smiljanic, Sean Tiedeman and Laurence Gornall acting as executive producers. Composer was Sean Schafer Hennessy who also previously worked on Pennywise: The Story of IT, as well as Scream: The Inside Story.
