Production
Fireworks Entertainment stated that they wanted to make use of the TV rights to RoboCop before they expired and thus ordered that Prime Directives be made, selecting Julian Grant to direct. Grant had a reputation for finishing projects ahead of schedule and under budget. He, in turn, picked Joseph O'Brien and Brad Abraham to write the series. Richard Eden, who played the role of RoboCop during the 1995 TV series, was approached to reprise the role for this series, but negotiations broke down for an unspecified reason.
Page Fletcher turned down the role of RoboCop in the 1995 series while it was in its embryonic stages of development. Keeping this in mind after negotiations with Eden failed, Fletcher was on the short list to play RoboCop in Prime Directives. He read the 450-page script in one sitting, and was so taken by it that he wept. He subsequently met with Director Julian Grant, and agreed to play the dual role of Alex Murphy and RoboCop.
The previous incarnation of RoboCop was the family-friendly TV series from 1995. Grant had no interest in perpetuating this approach, however, and would return RoboCop to his dark, violent roots. Although Prime Directives takes place ten years after the original film, the production was not permitted to use clips from the feature films. However, MGM had licensed shots of Murphy's death scene from the original film for the television show to use. The creators of Prime Directives took the footage that the TV show used, recolored the shots blue, and used them in the third film in the series, "Resurrection."
Read more about this topic: Robo Cop: Prime Directives
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