The next Nicolas Winding Refn will be the remake of a cult horror thriller

Maniac Cop, where the story of a former cop trapped by corrupt officials then returned from the dead to seek revenge.

After presenting Her Private Hell this year in Cannes, after ten years of absence, Nicolas Winding Refn is already moving on with a new project. And inevitably, it looks completely crazy.

The director of Drive And The Neon Demon will tackle a remake of Maniac Copthe cult horror thriller released in 1988. A project produced and financed by Mubi, which is already planning a wide cinema release in several territories, including France, the United States and the United Kingdom.

And given Refn’s first statements, we clearly shouldn’t expect a classic remake.

“The concept has always fascinated meexplains the filmmaker. In the current political and social climate, the very iconography of Maniac Cop immediately causes an uneasy reaction. The time has finally come to unveil a radically new vision where there is no protection, no security… only chaos.”

Released in 1988 and directed by William Lustig from a screenplay by Larry Cohen, the original film followed a killer in a police uniform terrorizing New York. Behind the mask was Matt Cordell, a former cop who was framed by corrupt officials and then returned from the dead to seek revenge.

In other words: exactly the kind of ultra violent, political and sticky material that Nicolas Winding Refn loves to divert in his cinema.

On Mubi’s side, we are already selling the project as something other than a simple reboot: “In the hands of Nicolas, Maniac Cop is not a remake. It’s a resurrection.”declares Efe Cakarel, founder of the platform.

Filming is scheduled to begin in Los Angeles in January 2027. For the moment, no actors have yet been announced.