HBO Greenlights Nicolas Winding Refn’s Maniac Cop as Limited Series

October 11, 2019

According to Deadline, HBO has given a series order for Nicolas Winding Refn’s upcoming reboot of Maniac Cop, based on William Lustig’s 1988 cult classic film. Refn will serve as an executive producer through his byNWR Originals banner along with John Hyams.

“I’ve always been a devoted admirer of John Hyams,” Refn said. “We’ve been talking about a re-imagining of the Maniac Cop films for a number of years, but as we continued to work on the material, we found ourselves wanting to explore the world we were creating in greater depth. Turning Maniac Cop into a series will allow us to realize our wildest ambitions and to reach an enormous audience though partners HBO and Canal+. This show will be an unadulterated, action-packed horror odyssey. Given the current state of the world, though, Maniac Cop will also be a strong commentary on the decline of civilization”.

Set in Los Angeles, the Maniac Cop series is 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?

Written by Larry Cohen, the original film was set in New York City and starred Robert Z’Dar, Tom Atkins, Bruce Campbell, Laurene Landon, Richard Roundtree, William Smith and Sheree North. Refn has been developing the reboot since 2016. It was first announced as a movie remake with Hyams attached to direct.

The series will be directed by Refn and Hyams, with the Danish filmmaker serving as its showrunner. Nick Hall, Lene Borglum, Frederic Fiore, Alex Gayner and Efe Cakarel will be executive producing along with the original film’s director William Lustig. HBO has the North American rights on the series while Canal+ is in-charge of its French rights. Logical Pictures will handle the reboot’s other international distribution.