Nicolas Winding Refn has been working on a reimagining of Maniac Cop for a long time, and it appears that the director is finally ready to make it. Deadline reports that Maniac Cop will be Refn’s next project, with the film aiming to start shooting in L.A. in January.
Maniac Cop
The project was originally announced a decade ago, with John Hyams (Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning) set to direct. The project later became an HBO TV series that Refn was going to produce, but delay after delay kept it on the back burner.
The original film, directed by William Lustig, followed a murderous former police officer who returned from the dead to seek revenge on those who wronged him. It was followed by two sequels, Maniac Cop 2 and Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence.
It remains to be seen how Refn’s version will differ, but the original logline for the TV series teased the story as being “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?“
Refn later described the project as “a cocaine-fueled, neon-soaked, bubble gum-wrapped, mayhem-infused, speed-driven universe of thrill-seekers who are consumed by that ever-present struggle of good vs. evil…but evil is winning.“
Her Private Hell
Her Private Hell, Refn’s first new movie in a decade, recently debuted at Cannes. The logline reads: “As a strange mist engulfs a futuristic metropolis and unleashes an elusive, deadly presence, a troubled young woman sets out in search of her father. In this quest, her fate crosses with that of an American GI engaged in a desperate journey to snatch his daughter from Hell.” The film stars Sophie Thatcher, Charles Melton, Havana Rose Liu, and Dougray Scott. It will hit theaters on July 24.
Unfortunately, our own Chris Bumbray wasn’t a big fan. “The only way I can really sum up Her Private Hell is by calling it beautiful tedium,” he wrote. “Refn’s aesthetic is in full swing here, but there’s utterly no substance, making his return to film a chore to sit through.” You can check out the rest of his review right here.
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