NEED TO KNOW
Austin Butler may be taking on Don Johnson’s iconic Miami Vice role.
On Friday, Oct. 24, multiple outlets reported that Butler, 34, is in talks to portray James “Sonny” Crockett in an in-the-works movie adaptation of the 1980s NBC crime drama, which starred Johnson, now 75, as the lead character. The new reports come days after multiple outlets confirmed that Sinners star Jordan Michael B. Jordan will play Ricardo Tubbs, the character whom Philip Michael Thomas originated in the series.
According to Deadline, Butler’s negotiations to star in the movie are still in their early days. Production on Miami Vice is expected to begin in 2026. Universal has scheduled the movie for a theatrical release on Aug. 6, 2027, per multiple reports.
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PEOPLE confirmed that Top Gun: Maverick and F1 director Joseph Kosinski was set to make a Miami Vice movie at Universal in April. As THR reported on Oct. 24, the new movie is expected to be inspired by Miami Vice’s 1984 pilot episode and its first season and “explore the glamour and corruption of mid-’80s Miami in a new version of the property.”
According to multiple outlets, screenwriter Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler, The Bourne Legacy) is adapting the 1980s television series for the big screen along with two-time Oscar-nominated screenwriter Eric Warren Singer (Top Gun: Maverick, American Hustle).
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Kosinski’s movie will mark the second attempt at bringing Miami Vice to movie theaters. Back in 2006, Michael Mann — who executive produced the series — directed an adaptation that starred Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell, but the movie received mixed reviews from audiences and critics.
Butler most recently appeared on the big screen in this year’s Caught Stealing, in which he starred as a former baseball player caught up with organized crime in New York City, and with a supporting part in Eddington. Jordan delivered a unique performance as twins in 1930s Mississippi in Ryan Coogler’s vampire movie Sinners; Jordan is also working on his next effort as a director with a remake of The Thomas Crown Affair.
