Last week we learned that UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: REGENERATION and UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING director John Hyams has signed on to direct the remake of William Lustig's awesome 1988 film MANIAC COP for producers Lustig and Nicolas Winding Refn. Talking to Variety about the project, Hyams has now revealed that the plan is to start filming in New York City next spring.
"I'm a huge admirer of both producers and I’d been looking to do something that bridges the gap between action and horror like this. The script is able to re-invent the original with the same mythology. We had thought about shooting in the fall, but we decided on the spring to give ourselves enough time to get the best cast and crew."
The screenplay for the remake was written by comic book writer Ed Brubaker, making his feature screenwriting debut. The story of the original film, written by Larry Cohen, goes like this:
Innocent people are brutally killed on the streets of New York by a uniformed police officer. A young cop, Jack Forrest finds himself marked as the chief suspect after his wife is murdered. As Lieutenant Frank McCrae investigates, the death toll rises and he suspects a mysterious police cover-up. 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!
I'm very much looking forward to seeing the return of Maniac Cop Matt Cordell, but it's probably a good idea that Hyams and the producers decided to take their time assembling the cast and crew. The cast of that original film is a tough act to follow: Robert Z'Dar, Bruce Campbell, Tom Atkins, Richard Roundtree, William Smith, appearances by George "Buck" Flower, Danny Hicks, and Sam Raimi. Shooting in the spring might also give them a chance to replicate the holiday setting of the '88 movie, which takes place around St. Patrick's Day.
While the original MANIAC COP had a budget of $1.1 million, Hyams will have 5 to 6 million to work with on the remake, which is expected to have a shooting schedule of around 25 days.
MANIAC COP's Laurene Landon