Nicolas Winding Refn will direct a new version of “Maniac Cop,” with Mubi providing full financing and a wide theatrical release commitment across multiple territories.
Goodfellas is co-producing, and Veterans will oversee sales for the rest of the world.
Refn will direct and produce through his byNWR Originals banner. Christina Erritzøe and Kimberly Willming serve as executive producers for byNWR; Vincent Maraval executive produces for Goodfellas. Mubi’s distribution footprint takes in North America, Latin America, the U.K. and Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Benelux, Turkey, and Australia and New Zealand.
Production is set to begin in Los Angeles in January 2027, with cast and key creatives yet to be announced.
The original “Maniac Cop,” directed by William Lustig from a script by Larry Cohen and released in 1988, centers on a series of murders carried out by a killer in a police uniform across New York City. The perpetrator is eventually revealed to be Matt Cordell, a decorated officer who was framed, imprisoned and left for dead by corrupt officials, and who returns disfigured and vengeful – targeting the guilty and innocent alike. The film tapped into contemporary anxieties about police brutality and institutional corruption, became a cult phenomenon and spawned two sequels. Refn acquired the rights more than a decade ago and has been developing the project since.
