Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn (‘Drive,’ ‘Only God Forgives,’ ‘Bronson’) is set to co-direct and executive produce a small screen adaptation of William Lustig’s cult film ‘Maniac Cop for HBO and Canal Plus.
Directed by William Lustig and starring Robert Z’Dar, Bruce Campbell and Laurene Landon, the original follows an investigation into a series of murders committed by a uniformed police officer. This “maniac” cop must be stopped, but it might not be so easy. He seems inhuman, and ready to take on the entire police force, hell-bent on revenge! The film spawned two sequels: ‘Maniac Cop 2’ in 1990 and ‘Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence’ in 1993. Lustig was behind the camera for both sequels.
Refn will serve as showrunner and will direct the entire series with John Hyams. Producers include Nick Hall, Lene Borglum, Frederic Fiore, Alex Gayner, Efe Cakarel, and Lustig.
“I’ve always been a devoted admirer of John Hyams,” said Refn in a statement to Variety. “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 Plus. 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.”