Universal has released the first look at Michael B. Jordan as Tubbs and Austin Butler as Crockett in Miami Vice ’85, confirming production is now underway. Joseph Kosinski, who directed Top Gun: Maverick and F1, directs the reimagining from a screenplay by Dan Gilroy. The film arrives in theaters May 19, 2028.
Miami Vice ’85 reimagines the original 1980s NBC series, created by Anthony Yerkovich and executive produced by Michael Mann, which followed undercover Metro-Dade detectives James “Sonny” Crockett and Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs, originally played by Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas. The series ran for five seasons and became known for redefining network television’s visual style, built around pastel colors, Art Deco architecture, and an influential music-driven soundtrack, alongside sparking a real-world preservation and tourism boom in Miami Beach’s South Beach district. The property was previously adapted into a 2006 feature film directed by Mann, starring Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx, which underperformed commercially on release but has since developed a cult following.
Kosinski reunites with his Top Gun: Maverick and F1 cinematographer Claudio Miranda for the project, producing alongside Dylan Clark. The ensemble cast includes Alden Ehrenreich, Whitney Peak, Camila Morrone, Danny Ramirez, John Leguizamo, Andrew Schulz, Edi Gathegi, Walton Goggins, André Holland, and Michael Irby, an unusually large roster for a franchise reboot built around two central leads.
Universal has positioned Miami Vice ’85 as a theatrical tentpole, setting an exclusive theatrical release rather than a day-and-date streaming option, a signal of how much weight the studio is placing on the property’s big-screen potential. The film arrives as Mann himself prepares to release a new home video cut of his 2006 film later this year, giving audiences two distinct versions of the Crockett and Tubbs dynamic circulating in the same stretch of time, one newly imagined for theaters, one revisited from nearly two decades ago.
With production now underway and a cast this large still being filled out around its two leads, the next details to watch for are additional casting announcements and the first trailer, which will likely set the tone for how closely this version leans into the original’s visual identity versus charting its own direction.