The “Miami Vice '85” cast keeps growing. Andrew Schulz has boarded Joseph Kosinski's big-screen reboot for Universal, per Deadline, joining leads Michael B. Jordan and Austin Butler.
Schulz joins a sprawling ensemble that already includes Whitney Peak, Alden Ehrenreich, Camila Morrone, John Leguizamo and Danny Ramirez. No word yet on who he's playing.
Dan Gilroy (“Nightcrawler”) wrote the script, which takes its cues from the pilot of the iconic NBC series and dives into the sleaze, excess and neon-drenched corruption of mid-'80s Miami. Kosinski is shooting it for Imax, with cameras rolling in November. Universal has it dated for May 19, 2028.
It's also a coincidental bit of timing. As I reported a few hours ago, Michael Mann's 2006 “Miami Vice” is getting a new Director's Final Cut on 4K this December, complete with a significantly reworked final act built from unseen footage. That film was dismissed by critics and audiences on release. Kosinski's version, by going back to the pilot episode, is clearly aiming for something closer to the show's pastel-and-synth DNA than Mann's grim, digital-video reinvention.
Where exactly does Schulz fit into all this? I'm not entirely sure. Comic relief, maybe? What’s clear to me is that he must have a fantastic agent.
Schulz best known as co-host of the “Flagrant” podcast (1.5 billion-plus YouTube views and counting) and has been stacking up acting gigs lately. He's in the upcoming live-action “Street Fighter,” just wrapped Apple's sports pic “Running,” and has previously appeared in “You People,” “White Men Can't Jump,” “The Underdoggs,” “The Thicket” and Netflix's “Tires.”
Claudio Miranda, the Oscar winner for “Life of Pi,” is also on board as cinematographer, reuniting with Kosinski yet again. He has shot every one of the director's features.
Kosinski is coming off the $600M+ success of “F1,” starring Brad Pitt, and also has an untitled UFO whistleblower thriller in the works at Apple. His other credits include “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Oblivion,” “Tron: Legacy” and “Only the Brave.” He knows how to make big, glossy spectacle; let's see if he can deliver it here too.
The film is set to star Hugh Jackman, while Hugh Grant and Owen Cooper are circling roles. Jack Thorne, who is red-hot these days thanks to his work on the acclaimed Netflix series "Adolescence.”