Miami Vice ’85 has entered production, and its first-look images put Michael B. Jordan and Austin Butler in character as the reboot’s central undercover detectives. Jordan plays Ricardo Tubbs, while Butler takes on Sonny Crockett in the theatrical revival of the 1980s police drama.
The film is scheduled to reach theaters on May 19, 2028. Joseph Kosinski is directing, with a screenplay by Dan Gilroy based on characters created by Anthony Yerkovich. Eric Warren Singer wrote an earlier draft.
There is an understandable urge to treat any new Miami Vice image as a wardrobe report, a car report, or a sunglasses report. The franchise’s visual identity has always been a major part of its appeal. But the most concrete takeaway from the first look is simpler: cameras are rolling, and Jordan and Butler are the new Tubbs and Crockett.
Jordan and Butler inherit the show’s defining partnership
The original television series ran from 1984 to 1989 and starred Don Johnson as Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Tubbs. The characters are Miami police detectives who operate undercover. That premise gives the series its essential dramatic engine: officers regularly assume identities, move through criminal circles, and face the risks of separating a working persona from a private self.
That is why casting Crockett and Tubbs matters beyond simply matching names to familiar roles. Their relationship is the foundation of the property. The story needs two detectives with enough contrast to create friction and enough trust to make an undercover partnership credible. The reboot has identified Jordan as Tubbs and Butler as Crockett, establishing the core pairing early rather than leaving audiences to speculate over which actor is playing which half of the duo.
For viewers who know the original primarily through its imagery, it is useful to remember that the style served a procedural premise. A procedural is a crime story built around investigations, cases, and the methods used to solve them. In Miami Vice, the undercover setup pushed that familiar police-story format toward a more heightened world of criminal operations, social status, danger, and deception.
The new movie is described as exploring the glamour and corruption of mid-1980s Miami. That language points toward the tension that made the setting important in the first place. “Glamour” suggests a polished, aspirational surface; “corruption” suggests what can be hidden beneath it. For an undercover detective story, that contrast is not merely decorative. It creates the environment the leads must navigate, and it can make every appearance, relationship, and transaction potentially part of the job—or part of the threat.
The film looks back to the beginning of the TV series
Miami Vice ’85 is said to draw inspiration from the television show’s pilot episode and first season. That framing is meaningful because it positions the film as a return to the formative period of the characters and their world, rather than an attempt to summarize the entire 1984–1989 run.
“Inspired by” should not be confused with a promise of a scene-for-scene remake. It establishes a creative reference point, not a complete plot outline. No detailed story information, character breakdowns for the supporting cast, or individual role assignments beyond Jordan and Butler’s have been provided. The responsible read is that the production is reaching back to the early series for tone, setting, and foundational ideas while holding its specific narrative cards close.
That early-series focus also fits the title. The “’85” label immediately places the project within the mid-1980s period described for the story, rather than in a present-day version of Miami. Period filmmaking involves more than reproducing a few recognizable fashions. It means that the production’s environments, props, vehicles, technology, music choices, and social atmosphere all need to support the time in which the story is set. None of those individual elements have been detailed for this film, but the stated setting makes the period part of the movie’s core identity.
It also means the reboot will be judged on more than whether its leads resemble prior performers. The original series became associated with a distinctive cultural style that reached into fashion and filmmaking. A new version has to decide how much of that legacy to preserve, how much to reinterpret, and how to keep the visual ambition connected to a compelling detective story.
A large ensemble has been assembled, with roles still under wraps
Jordan and Butler lead a cast that also includes:
- Alden Ehrenreich
- Whitney Peak
- Camila Morrone
- Danny Ramirez
- John Leguizamo
- Andrew Schulz
- Edi Gathegi
- Walton Goggins
- André Holland
- Michael Irby
The production has not attached character names to those performers in the available details. That absence leaves a broad range of possibilities without supporting any firm conclusion: an undercover crime drama naturally has room for law-enforcement colleagues, figures inside criminal networks, informants, civilians, rivals, and people whose loyalties are uncertain. Still, those are functions of the genre, not confirmed roles for this cast.
The size of the announced ensemble does suggest the film is building a wider Miami around Crockett and Tubbs rather than presenting the two detectives in isolation. In a story centered on undercover work, the supporting characters are often vital because they define the pressures around the leads. A partner may be an ally, but an apparent ally can also become a liability when secrecy and assumed identities are involved.
Joseph Kosinski, Dan Gilroy and the people behind the camera
Kosinski directs and produces Miami Vice ’85. His recent directing credits include F1 and Top Gun: Maverick. Gilroy wrote the current screenplay, while Singer is credited with an earlier screenplay draft. Dylan Clark is producing alongside Kosinski.
Those credits outline the division of labor without revealing the movie’s creative specifics. The director is responsible for guiding the film’s overall realization, including performances and the way the script is translated into images and scenes. The screenwriter shapes the screenplay: the dramatic structure, dialogue, and action on the page. Producers help carry a project through its development and production. A project with an earlier draft and a subsequent credited writer is a normal feature of large-scale filmmaking, but it does not by itself explain what changed between versions.
Sara Scott, executive vice president of production development, and Christina Hoffrogge, creative executive of production development, are overseeing the project for Universal. That studio backing puts the release plan on a theatrical track, with the May 2028 date already established while filming is underway.
For Jordan, the film joins a busy slate following his best actor win last year for Sinners. He is also set to star opposite Adria Arjona in The Thomas Crown Affair, a film he directed. Butler’s next listed film is A24’s Enemies, co-starring Jeremy Allen White.
Why the first-look images matter—and what they do not confirm
A first look serves a different purpose from a trailer. It introduces a production’s faces, character identities, and broad visual direction without necessarily revealing plot, action scenes, supporting performances, or the final rhythm of the film. In this case, the images provide the first official view of Jordan as Tubbs and Butler as Crockett, while the announcement confirms production has started.
They do not establish the movie’s story, its villain, its case-of-the-week structure, the scope of its action, or how closely it will track any specific episode. They also do not assign roles to the rest of the announced cast. Keeping those boundaries clear matters, especially with a property whose history can encourage fans to fill in gaps with memories of the original series.
The official social posts containing the first-look material are available here. Beyond the images, the firm milestones are production beginning now and the theatrical release target of May 19, 2028.
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What to watch as Miami Vice ’85 moves through production
With the leads, director, writer, producers, ensemble, setting, and release date now established, the next meaningful updates will be the ones that narrow the film’s actual story. Additional casting information could reveal who operates inside the detectives’ professional world and who stands on the other side of their investigations. A trailer would offer the clearest indication of the movie’s pacing, tone, and approach to mid-1980s Miami.
Until then, the project’s pitch is focused and recognizable: a theatrical Miami Vice reboot set amid the seduction and rot of mid-’80s Miami, led by Jordan’s Ricardo Tubbs and Butler’s Sonny Crockett. The first look is an opening marker, not a complete portrait—but it confirms that the new partnership is officially on the case.
