HBO has green-lit a TV reboot of the Maniac Cop franchise.
According to Deadline, the new Maniac Cop series comes from Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn and John Hyams (Universal Soldier: Regeneration, Legacies), both of whom will executive produce and direct. The series will be the first production for byNWR Originals, Refn’s independent studio. HBO is set to air Maniac Cop in North America, with Canal+ picking up the rights to broadcast the series in France.
According to its synopsis, the show is told “through a kaleidoscope of characters” and revolves around a possibly supernatural “killer in uniform” who murders people both innocent and guilty on the city’s streets. Read on for Refn’s statement about the news:
“I’ve always been a devoted admirer of John Hyams. 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”.
The original Maniac Cop film was released in 1988 and starred Robert Z’Dar as Matthew Cordell, a decorated police officer who returns from the dead as a vengeful killer after being wrongly framed by his department and murdered in prison. It bombed at the box office, but went on to become a cult film and even spawned a pair of sequels.
HBO’s Maniac Cop does not have a release date. Refn will serve as showrunner, with both he and Hyams directing the entire season. Nick Hall, Lene Borglum, Frederic Fiore, Alex Gayner, Efe Cakarel and original Maniac Cop director William Lustic will also executive produce.
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