– The Danish auteur has announced his next feature following Her Private Hell, reimagining William Lustig’s cult 1988 horror flick as a radical contemporary thriller
Director Nicolas Winding Refn (© 2026 Fabrizio de Gennaro for Cineuropa – fadege.it, @fadege.it)
Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn has lined up his next feature-length project following Her Private Hell, which was his first feature in a decade and recently premiered out of competition at the 79th Cannes Film Festival. The director is now officially attached to helm a new incarnation of the cult grindhouse horror property Maniac Cop.
Originally released in 1988, Maniac Cop was directed by William Lustig from a screenplay by Larry Cohen. The cult horror film followed a string of murders across New York City committed by a mysterious killer dressed as a police officer, later revealed to be Matt Cordell, portrayed by Robert Z’Dar, a disgraced cop who was framed, imprisoned and left for dead by corrupt officials before returning from the dead to seek vengeance. The cast also included Bruce Campbell, Richard Roundtree and Tom Atkins, and the film became a staple of late-1980s genre cinema, spawning two sequels.
Winding Refn has been attached to the property for more than a decade, having acquired the rights before the project was first announced at Cannes in 2016 as a feature set to be directed by John Hyams from a script by Ed Brubaker. In 2019, the project evolved into a television adaptation developed with HBO and Canal+, produced by Winding Refn’s byNWR Originals, and directed and executive-produced by Hyams, before ultimately being shelved. Winding Refn will now direct the feature himself, while details regarding the screenplay remain under wraps.
In an official statement, Winding Refn said: “The concept has always appealed to me. In today’s political and social climate, the iconography of Maniac Cop alone provokes an immediate, uneasy reaction. I’ve been watching it all unfold while constructing this project in the shadows… waiting. Now, that moment has finally arrived. The time has come to unveil a radical new vision where there is no protection, no safety net, only mayhem…” Winding Refn won the Best Director Award at Cannes in 2011 for Drive and returned to the festival in competition with Only God Forgives (2013) and The Neon Demon (2016).
Efe Cakarel, founder and CEO of Mubi, stated: “Maniac Cop in Nicolas’s hands is not a remake; it is a resurrection. Nicolas has one of the most dangerous imaginations in modern cinema, and he is exactly the filmmaker to reawaken something this iconic. We’re proud to be partnering with him on a film that feels bold, singular and impossible to ignore.”
Vincent Maraval, CEO of Goodfellas, added: “We have known Nicolas for a long time, and there is nobody better suited to bring this myth back to life. This is not nostalgia; it is a new nightmare, and with Mubi stepping in so decisively, Maniac Cop becomes the kind of ambitious global genre film that buyers and audiences will want to chase.”
Principal photography is scheduled to begin in Los Angeles in January 2027, with casting and additional key creatives yet to be announced. The feature is being fully financed by Mubi. Winding Refn will produce through his byNWR Originals banner alongside Christina Erritzøe and Kimberly Willming, who serve as executive producers. Goodfellas is co-producing, with Vincent Maraval executive-producing on behalf of the company. Mubi has acquired distribution rights for North America, Latin America, the UK and Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Benelux, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand, committing to a wide theatrical release, while Veterans will handle international sales for the rest of the world.
