Universal Pictures is adding another major name to the neon-lit world of Miami Vice ’85, with John Leguizamo joining Michael B. Jordan and Austin Butler as the film’s main villain. Leguizamo is set to play a cartel boss in Joseph Kosinski’s new crime thriller, which will return the franchise to the mid-1980s and draw heavily from the original television series. The film is scheduled for May 19, 2028, with production beginning in November in New York and Miami.
The casting carries an unusual sense of history. Leguizamo made his professional television debut on the original Miami Vice, appearing as Orlando Calderone in the 1986 episode “Sons and Lovers” before returning to the role in “The Afternoon Plane” in 1987. Nearly four decades later, he is coming back to the franchise from the opposite side of the story, this time as its central threat. That connection gives the new film a genuine link to the series rather than simply borrowing its title and characters.
The move also comes as Leguizamo enjoys a strong run with Universal. He recently appeared in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, playing Eumaeus, and the epic has become the studio’s highest-grossing film worldwide, reaching about $1.68 billion. His addition to Miami Vice ’85 therefore extends an already significant relationship with the studio while placing him in a much more dangerous role.
At the center of the film are Michael B. Jordan and Austin Butler, who will play undercover Miami-Dade detectives Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs and James “Sonny” Crockett. Michael B. Jordan enters the project as a newly minted Oscar winner after taking home the Best Actor prize for Sinners, while Austin Butler brings an Oscar-nominated performance history to the franchise. The ensemble also includes Alden Ehrenreich, Danny Ramirez, Camila Morrone and Whitney Peak, creating an unexpected Marvel connection through Michael B. Jordan, Alden Ehrenreich and Danny Ramirez, all of whom have appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Kosinski and writer Dan Gilroy are taking a different approach from the 2006 Miami Vice film. Rather than moving the story into a contemporary setting, Miami Vice ’85 will remain firmly rooted in the mid-1980s. The filmmakers are drawing inspiration from the landmark original pilot, using its mix of glamour, crime and corruption as a foundation for a new story. The decision allows the film to explore the era that made Miami Vice visually distinctive while building a fresh feature around its iconic detectives.
The production is also being designed for the biggest possible screen. Miami Vice ’85 will be filmed specifically for IMAX, giving Kosinski room to bring fast cars, large-scale action and the franchise’s pastel-soaked visual identity to theatres with greater impact. With New York and Miami serving as production locations, the film can combine the scale of a modern studio action movie with the atmosphere of the period it is recreating.
The project is based on characters created by Anthony Yerkovich, whose original series was executive produced by Yerkovich and Michael Mann. Eric Warren Singer also wrote an earlier screenplay draft, adding another layer of established filmmaking talent behind Universal’s new interpretation of the property.
What makes Miami Vice ’85 especially intriguing is the way its pieces connect past and present. Leguizamo’s return closes a circle that began with his first television work, while Michael B. Jordan and Austin Butler inherit characters made famous by Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas.
Add Kosinski’s large-format ambitions, Gilroy’s period setting and a cast packed with familiar modern faces, and Universal is building a Miami Vice that is designed to remember where the franchise came from while pushing it toward a new cinematic scale. When the cameras roll this November, the neon, speed and danger of 1980s Miami will once again have the big screen to itself.
