Back during Fantastic Fest in 2015, John Hyams, the genius director of Universal Solder sequels – Regeneration and Day Of Reckoning, was attached to direct a forthcoming remake of William Lustig’s 1988 cult horror classic, Maniac Cop. Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive, The Neon Demon) launched financing efforts for the film the following year at Cannes while the film still needed backing with all the right pieces and people in place.
Thus, the word now is the film has officially been greenlit according to Variety with Wild Bunch handling international sales of the film. Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Angel Of Death scribe Ed Brubaker is penning the script which will trade away Lustig’s horror-toned millieu for a more realistic, contemporary action thriller that will center on a dilligent female Los Angeles detective determined to uncover the mystery behind a spate of murders of innocent people allegedly at the hands of a fellow officer.
Refn is producing the film with Lene Børglum via their Copenhagen-based banner Space Rocket Nation, along with Bold Films. The former is also said to have some creative input on the film which will delve principally from Hyams’s directing vision. Says Børglum: “The reason why we wanted to work with John Hyams is because we love his visual style and his ability to work extremely well on a limited budget,”.
Casting is underway for production to commence this summer in Los Angeles with financing by Paul Brett from Merlin Funds at Prescience MA.
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