Over the weekend, some really, really cool news came down the pipe.
Twitch put up “word from ground zero at Fantastic Fest” that the long-gestating, Refn-produced remake of William Lustig’s MANIAC COP had a director: UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: REGENERATION and UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING helmer John Hyams.
Then he promptly answered someone who asked him to confirm the news:
@NWR_pic Yes, it's true. A rare and incredible opportunity to work with one of my favorite filmmakers. Beyond excited.
— John Hyams (@jrhyams) September 25, 2015
I’ll grant you that MANIAC COP is pretty far from the melee-heavy action Hyams is known for (though he’s been directing episodes of Syfy’s zombie series Z NATION), but his last three features (the UNISOLs and DRAGON EYES) have featured a great, great deal of atmosphere and style to accompany their brutal, drag-down brawls. DAY OF RECKONING, in particular, had a surreal, challenging mood that made some scratch their heads and others to loudly proclaim their love for it over the previous three (or five, depending on who you ask) series entries. If he can bring that sort of surreality and narrative flexibility to MANIAC COP (which already has a kinda bizarre narrative), then this could be one of the more badass, genuinely affecting horror remakes of the past decade.
And Refn’s producing, so it’ll likely be fucking nasty. As it should.
Should they bring Tom Atkins or Bruce Campbell back? How will they find someone to replace the legendary-chinned Robert Z’Dar?
