RoboCop fans have been eagerly awaiting news of the in-development RoboCop Returns sequel, but it appears there’s something else that will excite fans of the franchise. Thanks to an interview with original RoboCop co-writer Ed Neumeier, we now know that MGM is developing a new prequel television series that would focus on Dick Jones. The character was brought to life in the film by Ronny Cox, and the series would follow his rise to becoming the villain fans know and love to hate. Neumeier revealed that he is working with MGM on the project in an interview with Moviehole, and described it as the best parts of the movie, just without RoboCop.
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“I’m working at MGM on it. It has all the cool stuff about RoboCop except no RoboCop,” Neumeier said. “I’m working with these two writers, Dave Parkin and Rob Gibbs, who bought this idea to a TV producer friend of mine, who then brought it to me. The first time I heard it I knew it was a cool idea because I could see a lot of things you could do with it. It’s such an interesting character.”
When asked if it would be a more satirical take on politics and society, Neumeier said the premise opens up a lot of possibilities and angles they can tackle.
“There’s the idea of doing things about business and law enforcement in the city of Detroit a minute-and-a-half in the future, it would be a way to do all sorts of stories about business and tech, Silicon Valley, corporations, snakes in suits, cops, all that. It’s a wonderful rich tapestry,” Neumeier said.
As for the character of Jones himself, this will show the man before he became the corporate predator he was in the film.
“So we’ve been talking about it and I think we have an interesting story. It’s fun to work with a younger version of the Dick Jones we meet in RoboCop,” Neumeier said. “He’s an actualized corporate predator [in the movie] but nobody necessarily starts out being the bad guy. So it’s going to be about the evolution of Richard Jones to Dick Jones, the story of OCP and how the world moves into the future, how the corporate world behaves.”
The project is still in development, but Neumeier is hopeful. “With any luck, if MGM is willing, if we can find the partners, if we can get this pilot made, if we can convince a bunch of people – it’s amazing how many people you have to convince – if that all works out maybe we’ll get a TV show up,” Neumeier said.
Do you like the idea of a RoboCop show without RoboCop? Let us know in the comments!
