Drive wasn’t Nicolas Winding Refn’s first movie, but it was undeniably the project that put him on Hollywood’s map. The neo-noir managed to capture the seedy crime world of Los Angeles in a way that hadn’t been explored in a major release in years, and he utilized up-and-coming star Ryan Gosling in a way that audiences hadn’t quite seen before. He might not have been given a blank check to make whatever he wanted, though the film’s success opened up a lot of previously closed doors.
Even though he could have made the jump to big-budget filmmaking, Refn continued making niche movies like Only God Forgives and The Neon Demon. Along those lines, he also regularly expressed his interest in developing a new Maniac Cop, which was originally directed by William Lustig. Finally, a decade after those first reports emerged, it seems like he’ll get to bring the project to life.
As confirmed by Deadline, Refn’s latest movie, Her Private Hell, just premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Coinciding with the positive reception of the movie, Refn’s take on Maniac Cop is set to be his next film. The filmmaker also took to Instagram to confirm the news himself.
The original movie is about a cop who comes back to life to seek vengeance on those who wronged him. Rather than being a direct remake, Deadline detailed that Refn’s version will be “told through a kaleidoscope of characters, from cop to common criminal. A killer in uniform has uncaged mayhem upon the streets. Paranoia leads to social disorder as a city wrestles with the mystery of the exterminator in blue – is he mere mortal, or a supernatural force?”
Some of the first reports of the remake go back as far as 2015, with subsequent updates putting the project firmly in limbo. In 2019, updates on the revival claimed that the new Maniac Cop would no longer be a movie, but a TV series for HBO. With the reboot already facing struggles, the pandemic and writers’ and actors’ strikes only complicated things further. Now, though, it seems to be officially back on.
“The concept has always appealed to me,” Refn shared in a statement. “In today’s political and social climate, the iconography of Maniac Cop alone provokes an immediate, uneasy reaction. I’ve been watching it all unfold while constructing this project in the shadows… waiting. Now, that moment has finally arrived. The time has come to unveil a radical new vision where there is no protection, no safety net, only mayhem…”
Her Private Hell is Refn’s first feature film since The Neon Demon. Since then, he developed the TV series Too Old to Die Young and Copenhagen Cowboy.
Maniac Cop
- Release Date
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May 13, 1988
- Runtime
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85 Minutes
- Director
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William Lustig
- Writers
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Larry Cohen
