'RoboCop' prequel series in development, but it won't feature RoboCop

The world of Paul Verhoeven’s RoboCop is set to return with a new prequel series — but it will focus on slimy corporate type Dick Jones and crooked company Omni Consumer Products, instead of RoboCop himself.

Ed Neumeier, who co-wrote the original movie with Michael Miner, told Moviehole he is developing the new series with writers Dave Parkin and Rob Gibbs.

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Jones first appears at the beginning of the 1987 movie as the senior vice president of OCP who introduces the law enforcement robot ED-209, which malfunctions and kills an executive.

He meets his end in the near-future satire’s climax when he is shot several times by RoboCop and then falls from the window of a tower block.

“[The new series] has all the cool stuff about RoboCop except no RoboCop,” said Neumeier.

He added: “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.”

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Neumeier said that the next step is for him and his co-creators to get the pilot made and convince the right people that it’s worth moving forward with the project.

Jones was played by character actor Ronny Cox in the 1980s classic, but the new show will delve back into his past.

“It’s fun to work with a younger version of the Dick Jones we meet in RoboCop,” said Neumeier.

“He’s an actualised 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.”

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RoboCop spawned two movie sequels and several TV series, as well as a 2014 movie reboot starring Joel Kinnaman in the title role.

A sequel to the original movie, provisionally called RoboCop Returns, has been in development for several years.

District 9 helmer Neill Blomkamp was originally set to direct, but Little Monsters filmmaker Abe Forsythe replaced him in the director’s chair last year.