David Farnor | On 12, Oct 2019

Nicolas Winding Refn is heading to HBO for his next project: a new TV series based on Maniac Cop.

Released in 1988, William Lustig’s slasher movie, starring Tom Atkins and Bruce Campbell, spawned two further films. Now, the franchise is Variety, as a killer in uniform unleashes mayhem upon the streets. With social disorder spreading, is this murderer in blue a mortal or supernatural force?

“I’ve always been a devoted admirer of John Hyams,” says Refn. “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.”

The series marks the first production of byNWR Originals, a part of his cultural streaming site byNWR.com. HBO will be the US home of the series, which means you can expect it to air on Sky in the UK.

Lustig will exec produce alongside Nick Hall, Lene Borglum, Frederic Fiore, Alex Gayner and Efe Cakarel.

The series follows Refn’s first excursion on the small screen in the form of Too Old to Die Young for Amazon Prime Video.

“Too Old to Die Young won’t be garlanded with praise. It likely won’t any win awards. But it represents a major artistic achievement and victory for the director,” we wrote in our review. “How incredible is it that Nicolas Winding Refn got Amazon to finance what is essentially a 13-hour art film?”

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