‘Miami Vice’ Reboot Headed To NBC: Vin Diesel Behind Remake Of Iconic ’80s Cop Drama
Miami Vice is coming back to TV. A reboot of the popular ’80s crime drama is being developed by Vin Diesel’s production company, One Race Television, according to Variety. Diesel will team up with Chris Morgan Productions for the upcoming NBC series. Morgan and Diesel have a long history together after working together on the Fast and the Furious franchise. Morgan wrote six of the Fast and the Furious films, including the most recent installment, The Fate of the Furious.
Diesel, Morgan, and Shana Waterman (Wayward Pines) will executive produce the Miami Vice reboot alongside Ainsley Davies, while Peter Macmanus (Spike TV’s The Mist) will pen the script. Vin Diesel reportedly came up with the idea to revive Miami Vice months ago and made a personal pitch to NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
The original Miami Vice was one of the biggest shows on television in the 1980s. Miami Vice ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984-1989. The series, which starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas, ran from 1984-1989 on NBC. Johnson and Thomas played undercover detectives James “Sonny” Crockett and Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs of Miami’s Metro-Date Police Department. The TV detectives were known for their colorful ’80s outfits and the duo popularized the era’s T-shirt under Armani jacket trend and slip-on sockless loafers look.
#MiamiVice joins the long list of classic TV shows to get a reboot https://t.co/kStbE6kVis pic.twitter.com/LP9QDAQ1tU
— Variety (@Variety) August 2, 2017
The original Miami Vice relied heavily on its soundtrack of pop, rock, and new wave music, including Jan Hamner’s iconic theme song. Back in the day, Miami Vice also featured an impressive array of musical guest stars, including Sheena Easton, Phil Collins, Gene Simmons, Willie Nelson, Ted Nugent, Little Richard, and Frank Zappa. There was even a cameo by Barbra Streisand in a 1988 episode of the hit show.
Copycat TV shows ensued (remember Cop Rock?), but nothing matched the popularity of Miami Vice during its heyday. The Miami Vice TV series also spawned a 2006 big screen flick that starred Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx. There is no word who will headline the Miami Vice TV reboot, but Johnson previously told Rolling Stone the original stars had a special chemistry.
“The dynamic just clicked,” Johnson said of working with Thomas.
“I never had one argument with that guy. We were closer than brothers.”
A 'Miami Vice' reboot, spearheaded by Vin Diesel, is coming to NBC https://t.co/euNLkEnS2Z pic.twitter.com/BGRDrF6S27
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) August 2, 2017
Johnson also advised that a future reboot should be done for stream service, not for network TV.
“It would be hot,” the Miami Vice star said of a potential reboot. “There’s a thirst out there to see a reboot. But do it for streaming. Do it so they can binge on it.”
Reboots seem to be the wave of TV’s future. Miami Vice is the first major TV reboot in development for the 2018-19 television season, but several other ’80s and ’90s shows are making a return to TV in the 2017-18 season, including Dynasty, Will & Grace, S.W.A.T., and Roseanne.
You can see a classic scene from the original Miami Vice below.
[Featured Image by Reed Saxon/AP Images]
