Photo by Ussama Azam
Michael B. Jordan and Austin Butler just became the new faces of one of television’s most stylish crime duos. Universal released the first look at the pair in character on Monday — Jordan as Ricardo Tubbs, Butler as Sonny Crockett — marking the official start of production on Miami Vice ’85.
The two character one-sheets dropped alongside confirmation that cameras are now rolling. Jordan, an Academy Award winner, and Butler, an Oscar nominee, are stepping into roles originally made famous by Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas back in the 1980s.
Joseph Kosinski is directing. That’s a name genre fans will recognize — he’s the filmmaker behind Top Gun: Maverick and F1, so expect this version of Miami’s neon-soaked streets to look sleek on the big screen.
The official Miami Vice ’85 account shared the news directly:
Michael B. Jordan is Tubbs. Austin Butler is Crockett.
Miami Vice ’85 – now in production.
— Miami Vice ’85 (@miami_vice85), October 12, 2026
Dan Gilroy — the writer behind Nightcrawler — penned the screenplay. It’s based on the pilot and first season of the original series, not a remake of Michael Mann’s 2006 film. Universal has Miami Vice ’85 scheduled for a US theatrical release on May 19, 2028.
A Stacked Supporting Cast
Jordan and Butler won’t be carrying this alone. Walton Goggins is set as the film’s lead villain, joining a cast that includes Alden Ehrenreich, Camila Morrone, Danny Ramirez, John Leguizamo, Andre Holland, Michael Irby, Whitney Peak, Edi Gathegi and Andrew Schulz.
That’s a deep bench for a crime drama reboot — and it suggests Universal is treating this less like a nostalgia play and more like a prestige ensemble piece.
The Mann Connection
The original NBC series ran in the ’80s and was executive produced by Michael Mann, the director behind Heat and Last of the Mohicans. Mann’s fingerprints are all over the franchise’s DNA — moody visuals, morally grey characters, a soundtrack that defined an era.
He later took a crack at the big screen himself. Mann directed a 2006 film adaptation starring Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx as Crockett and Tubbs.
Reception to that version was mixed when it first hit theaters. Critics were lukewarm; audiences were split.
Since then, though, it’s quietly built a cult following — the kind of reassessment that happens when a movie’s style ages better than its initial reviews suggested. Mann’s reworked cut, titled Miami Vice: Director’s Final Cut (2006), had its world premiere on October 3 at BeyondFest in Los Angeles. That version is also heading to 4K later this year, with a December release planned.
Whether Kosinski’s take draws from Mann’s visual language or charts its own course remains to be seen. Either way, the pressure’s on — this is a franchise with a loyal following and a very specific aesthetic to live up to.
