Miami Vice ‘85, the second major movie to reimagine the beloved Reagan-era cop TV staple, has officially cast Austin Butler and Michael B. Jordan as auramaxxing detectives Sonny Crockett and Rico Tubbs. And they’ve found the perfect director for a movie that you’d hope will teem with adrenalized ‘80s action: Joseph Kosinski, the filmmaker behind Top Gun: Maverick and F1, two of the rip-roaringest blockbusters of the last half-decade. Per the action auteur’s stylish signature, expect a ton of POV shots from behind the wheel of Sonny and Rico’s ice white Daytona Spider. At least Butler and Jordan will be spared the vomit-inducing Gs of a jet fighter trip.
Combining the cinematic strengths of two of the hottest leading men around—the latter having just netted his first Oscar win for Sinners, the breakout box office success of 2025—feels as fault-proof as it comes, like going on FIFA Career Mode and immediately splurging on Haaland and Mbappe. According to Variety, Miami Vice ‘85 has long orbited the two actors, with Kosinski expressing interest in casting the pair on-record last year.
“Michael is someone I’ve admired for a long time… Austin, I think, is proving himself as someone to watch,” he told the industry outlet. “If it ends up being those two, I’d be very lucky.”
The original Miami Vice, which ran for five seasons from 1984 to 1989, starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as ultra-stylish undercover cops who took on the drug trade in an appropriately neon-doused Southern Florida; the series’ vibrant, cooler-than-cool aesthetic sits at the core of its cultural legacy. Though perhaps less familiar with the show itself, Millennial and Elder Gen Z gamers who grew up with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City would’ve absorbed its orange-tinted ‘80s vibe by osmosis; it was a key point of influence alongside Scarface. Original Vice executive producer and vibe godfather Michael Mann directed Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx in 2006’s big-screen Miami Vice reboot, an über-digitalized, extremely mid-’00s vision of the Miami war on drugs; Kosinski’s version sounds like we’re headed back to neon lights, hot pink suits and swishy palm trees.
The film’s official logline certainly suggests a retro reboot: Variety reports that the film will center on “the glamour and corruption of mid ‘80s Miami,” having been “inspired by the pilot episode and the first season of the landmark television series.” All in all, expect a style-forward affair, from Kosinski’s direction down to the fits, when Miami Vice comes out on August 6, 2027. YouTube synthwave edits don’t know what’s about to hit them.
This story originally appeared in British GQ.