Ed Brubaker To Script ‘Maniac Cop’ Movie Remake

When you think of the film genres that have inspired comics writer Ed Brubaker's work, 1940s noir/crime and 1970s conspiracy movies are the ones that immediately spring to mind. Perhaps 1960s spy flicks. But 1980s slasher/exploitation movies aren't really part of the equation.

But Brubaker is apparently branching out into the genre. ScreenRelish is reporting that he'll be penning the script for a remake of the 1988 slasher film Maniac Cop, one of the true gems of the trash cinema that filled the horror shelves at VHS rental stores.

At the time of its release, Maniac Cop wasn't a particularly well-regarded movie. It was called a Friday the 13th ripoff and worse. Now, it holds something of a cult status, and apparently Drive director Nicholas Winding Refn is a fan. He'll be producing the remake alongside Larry Cohen and William Lustig, the screenwriter and director of the original, respectively. It's not clear if the movie is meant to inspire sequels like the original, which was followed by two direct-to-video installments.

They're still looking for a director, but Brubaker's attachment to the project makes it pretty intriguing. The original was a pretty straightfoward "Who's the killer?" slasher movie with B-movie actors Bruce Campbell, Robert Z'Dar, Richard Roundtree and Tom Atkins in the major roles. One of Brubaker's calling cards is burrowing into the minds of bad guys and killers. Could the remake be from the Maniac Cop's perspective?

Time will tell. At the very least, this should raise Brubaker's profile as a screenwriter. Though his run on Captain America was partially the basis for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, his only major screenwriting credit is for the 2009 movie Angel of Death. Maybe this could lead to an adaptation of Criminal or Velvet somewhere down the line? We can hope.