EXCLUSIVE: Hot off a 12-minute standing ovation earlier this week at Cannes with his first directorial in ten years, Nicolas Winding Refn, has already set sights on his next directing gig, his long-in-the-works Maniac Cop.
Originally, the project was announced at Cannes 2016 as a feature, partly based on William Lustig’s 1988 cult classic, Maniac Cop which was to be directed by John Hyams. By October 2019, the project had morphed into a TV series in development with HBO and Canal+, produced by Refn’s NWR Originals and directed and executive produced by Hyams.
The blurb at the time for the Maniac Cop series was that it was set in Los Angeles, told through a kaleidoscope of characters, from cop to common criminal. A killer in uniform has uncaged mayhem upon the streets. Paranoia leads to social disorder as a city wrestles with the mystery of the exterminator in blue – is he mere mortal, or a supernatural force? No word yet if Refn is sticking with that exact plot-line.
We hear that Refn is shooting Maniac Cop in LA this January. Casting is forthcoming. We’re still gathering details on financing and who is behind the project.
Refn told Deadline he had a brush with death three years ago, undergoing heart surgery, and being dead for 20 minutes. It was a life-changing experience for the Cannes winning Drive director who swore that he’ll direct more movies. The last movie he directed before Her Private Hell was the 2016 Elle Fanning fashion noir Neon Demon which world premiered here at Cannes. Refn went on to create two streaming series, the Miles Teller starring Prime Video series Too Old To Die Young and the 2022 Netflix series Copenhagen Cowboy.
Her Private Hell is being released theatrically by Neon in North America on July 24.
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