James Wan Set to Produce ‘Robocop' Series for Amazon/MGM

You just don’t remake a Paul Verhoeven film. That should be a general rule for Hollywood. It’s practically impossible to replicate the Dutch filmmaker’s masterful blend of social satire, sex and graphic violence.

So, when Hollywood decided to remake “RoboCop”and “Total Recall,” two Verhoeven sci-fi classics, I just knew it wouldn’t end well for all of the creatives involved. No surprise then that both of these 21st Century “updates” failed, miserably. “Total Recall” (2012) has a 31% on Rotten Tomatoes, and “RoboCop” (2014) has a 49%.

James Wan clearly didn’t get the memo. Deadline is reporting that Wan is set to executive produce a “Robocop” series for Amazon/MGM. Peter Ocko (“Lodge 49”) has been tapped as writer, executive producer and showrunner

The series will follow the premise of the films, focusing on a giant tech conglomerate which collaborates with the local police department to introduce a technologically advanced enforcer to combat rising crime — a police officer who’s part man, part machine.

Obviously, this is still very early in the development process, but it does look like it’s happening. Ocko has been a Hollywood writer for decades, having penned shows like “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose,” “Dead Like Me,” and “Pushing Daisies.” More recently, he was the showrunner on the series “Lodge 49” and “Moonhaven.”

I would have rather had Neil Blomkamp’s “Robocop Returns.” Blomkamp’s sequel, greenlit in 2018, was meant to bring back Peter Weller in the titular role. MGM ended up scrapping the entire project a year later.