‘F1' Director's ‘Miami Vice' Adaptation Gets New Title, Locks In Stars
Between “Top Gun: Maverick” and “F1,” Joseph Kosinski has proven himself to be one of the hottest directors in Hollywood, blending intimate storytelling with the kind of old-fashioned bombast that the cinema was created to deliver to hungry audiences all over the world. For his next project, Kosinski is traveling back to the 1980s with a revival of the legendary television series, “Miami Vice.”
With production on the film gearing up to start this fall, the pieces are beginning to fall into place. According to Variety and Deadline, Austin Butler (“Elvis”) and Michael B. Jordan (“Sinners”) have locked in their deals to star as James “Sonny” Crockett and Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs, Vice cops played by Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas in the original series, which ran for five seasons between 1984 and 1989. The roles were also played by Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx in a 2006 film adaptation, which was written and directed by series Executive Producer Michael Mann.
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In addition to the casting news, Kosinski’s “Miami Vice” movie also has a new title: “Miami Vice ’85.” This differentiates this movie from the 2006 film, which was set in the present day. And, not to put the cart in front of the horse, it allows for easy sequel naming: “Miami Vice ’86,” anyone?
Hopes are high for “Miami Vice ’85.” The original show was groundbreaking in its production design and MTV sensibilities. The series was famous for utilizing extensive music video sequences to advance the plot of each episode, its era-defining costumes, and pastel color palette that lent an otherworldly feel to its sun-soaked, film noir storytelling. There was nothing else like it at the time, and every show since then owes a debt of gratitude to the original “Miami Vice.”
As for “Miami Vice ’85,” plot details are being kept under wraps, though it’s been said that the film is inspired by the pilot and first season of the original show. If you don’t remember, the pilot saw Tubbs, a New York undercover detective, head south to Miami in pursuit of Calderone, the drug kingpin who murdered his brother. There, he forms an uneasy alliance with Detective Sonny Crockett, and the two team up to take down the villain.
“Miami Vice” showed that the War on Drugs of the 1980s was doomed to failure, an endless game of “whack a mole,” where, after one drug lord was taken out, another would simply rise to take his place. Legal or not, the ecosystem of illicit drugs was Capitalism at its simplest: people wanted the goods, and dealers were there to provide them. Many episodes featured working-class cops, ambitious lawyers, or other people on the side of law and order who would betray their ideals if the bribe was expensive enough. Arguably worse were the glory-seekers who chased after promotions and fame, no matter how many people they put in danger along the way. The real-life politics of the War on Drugs and its impact on the main characters were key in making “Miami Vice” more than a simple ‘cops and robbers’ show. As a result, “Miami Vice” maintains a healthy fandom to this day.
Hopefully, “Miami Vice ’85” shakes out to be more than just flashy visuals and fast cars. If it embraces the gritty storytelling that made the original series special, we might just have a major new hit movie franchise on our hands. We’ll find out for sure when “Miami Vice ’85” releases exclusively in movie theaters on August 6, 2027.
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This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 9:37 AM.