Miami Vice Zeroes In on Another A-List Star for Michael B. Jordan Movie
Michael B. Jordan’s Miami Vice movie is eyeing another A-lister, revving up a star-packed return to the neon-drenched streets of Miami.
Miami Vice is gunning its engines again, and the new cast is shaping up to be very much a sunglasses-on situation. Two big names are circling the leads, and yes, the studio is moving mountains to make it happen.
The new movie, the old DNA
Quick refresher: Miami Vice started as the slick NBC crime drama created by Anthony Yerkovich and overseen by Michael Mann. Don Johnson played James "Sonny" Crockett, and Philip Michael Thomas was Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs. The series ran five seasons from 1984 to 1989, then Mann turned it into a 2006 feature with Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx.
Now Universal Pictures is rebooting the film again with director Joseph Kosinski, the guy behind F1, and the pieces are coming together fast.
The casting chase
About a month ago, Nexus Point News said Michael B. Jordan was in talks to play Rico. Deadline followed up and reported he has been officially offered the role, adding this little scheduling wrinkle:
"after the studio worked to move dates so that Jordan could finish post on his next directing gig, The Thomas Crown Affair, and also shoot this."
And the new twist: Deadline also says Austin Butler is now in talks to play Sonny. That deal is not closed yet, but that pairing makes a lot of sense if Universal wants a glossy, movie-star-forward version of Vice.
Butler snapshot
Butler snagged a Best Actor Oscar nomination for Elvis in 2022. In 2025, he headlined Ari Aster's Eddington and Darren Aronofsky's Caught Stealing. Elsewhere on his resume: Aliens in the Attic (2009), Yoga Hosers (2016), Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), The Bikeriders (2023), and Dune: Part Two (2024).
Who is making this thing
- Director: Joseph Kosinski
- Studio: Universal Pictures
- Writers: Eric Warren Singer and Dan Gilroy
- Producers: Joseph Kosinski and Dylan Clark
- Cast in motion: Michael B. Jordan offered Rico; Austin Butler in talks for Sonny
- Production: expected to start in 2026
- Release: August 6, 2027
The timeline, cleaned up
There was chatter that this would land in 2026, but the current plan is more straightforward: shoot in 2026, hit theaters August 6, 2027. Given the talent and schedules involved, that tracks.
Bottom line: If Jordan locks Rico and Butler signs on as Sonny, Universal is clearly going for a big, modern Vice that remembers the cool — and spends like it.