Nicolas Winding Refn will direct the new version of “Maniac Cop,” which will be fully financed by Mubi and promises a wide theatrical release in multiple territories.
Goodfellas will co-produce, and Veterans will oversee worldwide sales.
Refn will direct and produce through his byNWR Originals banner. Christina Elizzo and Kimberly Wilming serve as executive producers for byNWR. Vincent Maraval is the executive producer of Goodfellas. Mubi’s sales presence spans North America, Latin America, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Benelux, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand.
Production is scheduled to begin in Los Angeles in January 2027, but cast and lead creative have not yet been announced.
The original Maniac Cop, directed by William Lustig from a screenplay by Larry Cohen, was released in 1988 and centered around a series of murders carried out by a killer in a police uniform across New York City. The culprit is eventually revealed to be Matt Cordell. Matt Cordell is a decorated officer framed, imprisoned, and left for dead by corrupt officials, then returns in disfigurement to exact revenge, targeting the guilty and innocent alike. The film reflected contemporary anxieties about police brutality and institutional corruption and became a cult phenomenon, spawning two sequels. Refn acquired the rights more than a decade ago and has been developing the project ever since.
“This concept has always been appealing to me,” Refn said. “In today’s political and social climate, the mere iconography of a ‘Maniac Cop’ evokes an immediate and disturbing reaction. I have been building this project in the shadows and watching it all unfold… I have been waiting. Now, the moment has finally arrived. The time has come to reveal a radical new vision where there is no protection, no safety net, only mayhem…”
“Maniac Cop, by Nicolas, is not a remake; it is a revival,” added Efe Kakarel, Mubi founder and CEO. “Nicholas is one of the most dangerous imaginations in modern cinema, a filmmaker who evokes exactly this kind of symbolism. We are proud to partner with him on a film that feels bold, singular and impossible to ignore.”
“We have known Nicola for a long time, and there is no one better suited to revive this myth,” Maraval said. “This isn’t nostalgia; it’s a new nightmare. With Mubi’s intervention so bold, Maniac Cop becomes an ambitious global genre film that buyers and audiences will want to follow.”
Refn won the Cannes Film Festival Best Director award in 2011 for Drive, and returned to the festival with Only God Forgives (2013) and The Neon Demon (2016). His latest film, Her Private Hell, was screened out of competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The veteran recently handled international sales for Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Perez, which won two Oscars, and Walter Salles’ I’m Still Here, which won an Oscar for Best International Feature.
