Ed Brubaker talks the Nicholas Winding Refn-produced Maniac Cop remake

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

We've known for a while that DRIVE and ONLY GOD FORGIVES director Nicolas Winding Refn had been working on getting a remake of William Lustig's MANIAC COP going, and earlier this month we learned that Ed Brubaker (CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER) was set to pen the script, with a director to be announced as soon as this week in Cannes. Our brothers-in-blood at Fango recently got a chance to speak with Brubaker about the MANIAC COP remake, and the highlights are below!

When asked how he was brought onboard the Refn-produced project Brubaker shared…

We have the same manager and know a couple different producers who I‘ve been talking about a few projects with. So we were introduced and he was given a bunch of my comics. We were talking about doing something together and then out of left field he brought up Maniac Cop saying that they were looking for a screenwriter and asked if I wanted to do it. I thought, “Well, under normal circumstances maybe not, but it’s Nicolas Refn. If he wants to make MANIAC CIP, then I’m interested. So I worked on that on and off over the last year. Now we’ve got a director and we’re going into production this fall. They’re shopping it at Cannes and we’ve already got a budget. I think they’re even out production scouting already. So that’s kind of crazy. It was a lot of fun.

Brubaker shares that he has written several drafts and that he included some really dark intentional humor. He added that the director has already signed on (but didn't reveal who it is), adding that he "is really amazing, so I’m really psyched. Like me, he’s really a fan of the 70s and 80s horror movies, like the John Carpenter stuff." I'm excited as hell to learn who will be helming the MANIAC COP remake, but if Refn hand-picked him and Brubaker approves then I'm sure we'll all be happy with the choice.

Brubaker goes on to share…

…when I started talking to Refn, I didn’t expect that he was going to offer me a monster movie. So, it was definitely not what I was expecting, but then I realized that I fucking love movies like that, so why not try one and then bring whatever my voice actually is into it. It was a big collaborative process. I worked with Nic and Bill Lustig for a while throwing out lines and ideas and stuff. Then for the last six-eight months I’ve been working on it steadily and having weekly Skype sessions with Refn about the drafts. It was pretty collaborative process. At one point, we even got a bunch of ideas from Larry Cohen. It was a really fun job and a great learning experience for screenwriting. I jokingly told Refn that I went through screenwriting bootcamp with him. I’d been doing it for a couple years and thought I knew the ropes, but now I know that getting a feature ready for production is a fuck-ton of work.

As for who Brubaker would like to see tackle the titular role, the writer shared…

I would love it to be Kevin Grevioux, actually. Have you ever heard his voice in real life? His voice sounds like it’s going through a synthesizer. He’d be perfect for it. He’s great in those UNDERWORLD movies. But, I don’t know. I’ll be really curious to see how it comes together now that we have a director and budget. It’s not cast contingent at all, which is amazing.

The production is spearheaded by Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, who is producing alongside William Lustig, director of the original, and Wild Bunch. Expect more from MANIAC COP very soon.