RoboCop is an American cyberpunk action media franchise featuring the futuristic adventures of Alex Murphy, a Detroit, Michigan police officer, who is brutally murdered in the line of duty and resurrected into a powerful cyborg, brand-named RoboCop, at the behest of a powerful mega-corporation, Omni Consumer Products. Thus equipped, Murphy battles both violent crime in a severely decayed city and the blatantly corrupt machinations within OCP.
The franchise began in 1987 with the film RoboCop. RoboCop 2 followed in 1990, and RoboCop 3 in 1993. There have also been various television series, video game and comic book tie-ins. The franchise has made over US$100 million worldwide and a remake serving as a reboot titled RoboCop was released in February 2014. A new installment titled RoboCop Returns is in the works and will serve as a direct sequel to the 1987 film, ignoring other sequels, the remake, as well as the two live-action TV spin-offs. As of June 2019, the script, which will be based on an original story from the writers of the 1987 film, Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner, was still being written. Neill Blomkamp was originally signed on to direct the film but left the project, and Abe Forsythe was later selected to direct.
Films Film U.S. release date Director(s) Screenwriter(s) Story by Producer(s) Original series RoboCop Paul Verhoeven Michael Miner & Edward Neumeier Arne Schmidt RoboCop 2 Irvin Kershner Walon Green & Frank Miller Frank Miller Jon Davison RoboCop 3 Fred Dekker Fred Dekker & Frank Miller Patrick Crowley Remake RoboCop José Padilha Michael Miner, Joshua Zetumer & Edward Neumeier Eric Newman & Marc Abraham
RoboCop (1987)
RoboCop is a 1987 American cyberpunk action film directed by Paul Verhoeven. Set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan, RoboCop centers on a police officer who is brutally murdered and subsequently re-created as a super-human cyborg known as "RoboCop". The film features Peter Weller, Dan O'Herlihy, Kurtwood Smith, Nancy Allen, Miguel Ferrer, and Ronny Cox.
In addition to being an action film, RoboCop includes larger themes regarding the media, resurrection, gentrification, corruption, privatization, capitalism, masculinity, and human nature. It received positive reviews and was cited as one of the best films of 1987, spawning a large franchise, including merchandise, two sequels, a television series, two animated TV series, and a television mini-series, video games and a number of comic book adaptations/crossovers. The film was produced for a relatively modest $13 million.
RoboCop 2 (1990)
RoboCop 2 is a 1990 cyberpunk action film directed by Irvin Kershner and starring Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Belinda Bauer, Tom Noonan and Gabriel Damon. It is the sequel to the 1987 film, and pits RoboCop against another cyborg created with the intention of replacing him.
The film received mixed reviews from critics. It was the last film directed by Kershner.
RoboCop 3 (1993)
RoboCop 3 is a cyberpunk action film directed and co-written by Fred Dekker, released in 1993, set in the near future in a dystopian metropolitan Detroit, Michigan, and filmed in Atlanta, Georgia. Most of the buildings seen in the film were slated for demolition to make way for facilities for the 1996 Olympics. Nancy Allen as Anne Lewis, Robert DoQui as Sgt. Warren Reed, Felton Perry as Donald Johnson, Mario Machado as Newscaster Casey Wong and Angie Bolling as Ellen Murphy are the only cast members to appear in all three films. Robert John Burke replaces Peter Weller as RoboCop.
The film received very negative reviews from critics. It was the first film in the RoboCop franchise to be rated PG-13.
RoboCop (2014)
A remake of the original film and a reboot of the franchise was released in early 2014. The film is directed by Brazilian filmmaker José Padilha and stars Joel Kinnaman in the title role. Gary Oldman and Samuel L. Jackson co-star in supporting roles. According to Kinnaman, the film is a reimagination of the original story, and bits and pieces cater to fans of the original film. In July 2012, a viral website for the fictional OmniCorp was opened to promote the film. Two months later in September, MGM and Columbia Pictures released the official film plot:
In RoboCop, set in the year 2028, multinational conglomerate OmniCorp is at the forefront of robot technology. Their drones are winning wars around the world, and now they seek to bring this technology to the home front. Alex Murphy (Kinnaman) is a devoted husband, father, and dedicated cop, fighting to combat crime and corruption in Detroit. After he is critically injured in the line of duty, OmniCorp uses their advanced robotics to save his life. He returns to the streets of his beloved city with incredible new abilities, but also grapples with challenges a regular man has never had to face.
Future In January 2018, original RoboCop writer Ed Neumeier said that he was writing a direct sequel to the 1987 film, which would ignore both sequels and the 2014 remake: "We're not supposed to say too much.... I would say this would be kind of going back to the old RoboCop we all love and starting there and going forward. So it's a continuation really of the first movie. In my mind. So it's a little bit more of the old school thing." In July 2018 it was reported that RoboCop Returns would be directed by Neill Blomkamp and scripted by Justin Rhodes, based on the original, unused screenplay written by Neumeier and Michael Miner for RoboCop 2. In 2019, Neumeier said that Blomkamp wanted RoboCop Returns to be as close to the first film as possible, explaining that Blomkamp thought that "it should be the proper Verhoeven if Verhoeven had directed a movie right after RoboCop." In June, Blomkamp said that the script continued to be developed, and confirmed that the original RoboCop suit would be used in RoboCop Returns, responding "1 million% original" to a fan's question on the subject on Twitter. In August 2019, Blomkamp announced that he would no longer be directing the film, in favor of developing a horror movie instead. By November, he was replaced as director by Abe Forsythe.
In March 2023, after Amazon acquired MGM, they identified RoboCop as one of the company's priorities. In April, Amazon Studios announced the development of a RoboCop television series and film, with the former possibly produced first.
Television Series Season Episodes First released Last released Showrunner(s) Network(s) RoboCop 1 12 October 1, 1988 December 17, 1988 Rich Fogel & Mark Seidenberg Broadcast syndication RoboCop 1 21 & 1 Pilot March 14, 1994 November 21, 1994 Michael Miner & Edward Neumeier CTV RoboCop: Alpha Commando 1 40 September 7, 1998 February 3, 1999 Eric Lewald & Julia Lewald Broadcast syndication RoboCop: Prime Directives 1 4 January 4, 2001 January 25, 2001 Brad Abraham & Joseph O'Brien Space
RoboCop (1988)
Based on the original film, the first RoboCop animated series features cyborg cop Alex Murphy (RoboCop), who fights to save the city of Old Detroit from assorted rogue elements, and on occasion, fighting to reclaim aspects of his humanity and maintain his usefulness in the eyes of the "Old Man", Chairman of OCP. Many episodes see RoboCop's reputation put to the test or soured by interventions from Dr. McNamara, the creator of ED-260, the upgradable version of the Enforcement Droid Series 209 and the top competitor for the financial backing of OCP. He continually develops other mechanical menaces that threaten RoboCop. In the police force, RoboCop is befriended as always by Officer Anne Lewis, but is also picked on and lambasted by the prejudiced Lieutenant Roger Hedgecock (who appeared as a minor character in the original film and his first name revealed in "Night of the Archer"), ever determined to be rid of him and his kind, whom he sees as ticking time bombs. Their rivalry comes to a fever pitch during the episode "The Man in the Iron Suit", in which Hedgecock comes close to finally beating Murphy with the aid of a new weapons system developed by McNamara. He almost kills Lewis when she interferes, enraging Murphy into tearing Hedgecock's iron suit apart and nearly crushing his skull before Lewis emerges, alive and well. Robocop is maintained by Robocop Project director Dr. Tyler. He was voiced by Robert Bockstael.
RoboCop (1994)
RoboCop appears in RoboCop played by Richard Eden. The series takes place 4–5 years after the original film and ignores the events of the second and third films. Murphy's mother and father were introduced. His father, Russell Murphy, was a devout police officer himself for many years until his retirement. He is responsible for instilling Murphy with his trademark sense of duty and dedication to law enforcement, even after his transformation into a cyborg. Throughout the series, Murphy finds himself teamed up with his father on a few cases that often saw them utilizing the elder Murphy's expertise in dealing with reappearing criminals he'd chased back before his retirement. Although his father was stern, it was clear Murphy's parents loved and cherished him even after his 'demise'. However at the end of the episode "Corporate Raiders", Russell Murphy finds out that it's his son under the RoboCop enhancements. Ellen (known as Nancy in the series for apparent copyright reasons) and Jimmy Murphy were recurring characters as well, often finding themselves crossing paths with Murphy by falling in inadvertently or intentionally with the criminal element to which Murphy interfered and protected them from harm. Despite his series partner Madigan's concerns to tell his family who he is, Murphy replied firmly, "No", as he felt doing so would hurt them even more. He commented that "they need a husband... and a father. I cannot be that. But I can protect them".
RoboCop: Alpha Commando (1998–1999)
RoboCop appears in RoboCop: Alpha Commando voiced by David Sobolov. The series is set in the year 2030 and deals with RoboCop being reactivated after five years offline to assist a federal high-tech group, "Alpha Division" in their vigilance and struggle against DARC (Directorate for Anarchy, Revenge, and Chaos), a highly advanced terrorist organization and other forces of evil whenever that may be, globally or nationally. The series shared many of the same writers who had contributed to the 1980s animated series, but had even less in common with the films or television canon that it was based on, including the first animated series. RoboCop now has numerous gadgets in his body that were never in the film, such as roller skates and a parachute. The show also suffers from major continuity errors. In the first episodes, RoboCop's son appears in his memories flashback and he appears to be around ten. He appears in the series, to be exactly the same age and even wearing the same clothing, as his memories. The absence of Anne Lewis was never explained. Besides RoboCop himself, Sgt. Reed is the only character from the films in the series. Unlike the films, and previous TV incarnations, RoboCop never takes off his helmet in Alpha Commando.
RoboCop: Prime Directives (2001)