HBO Max has been busy investing in original content and deals with big names, with the latest being Michael Mann. The project in question is the pilot of original series Tokyo Vice, with Mann taking on the role of director.
Tokyo Vice is an upcoming series based on the 2009 memoir Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan. Written by investigative journalist Jake Adelstein in 2009, the book sees Adelstein discuss his time working for one of Japan’s largest newspapers, Yomiuri Shimbun. As the first non-Japanese reporter at the paper, Adelstein progressed into working within the Tokyo Vice police squad during his time on the crime beat in order to reveal corruption.
Tokyo Vice was originally going to become a feature film in 2013. However, HBO Max is now taking the concept on as a 10-episode series. Production will begin in February 2020 on location in Japan, and the studio is set as Endeavour Content.
Notable names set to be involved include Baby Driver’s Ansel Elgort as Jake, and Godzilla: King of the Monster’s Ken Watanabe. J.T. Rogers, who wrote the screenplay for the feature film version, is taking on the role of writer and executive producer.
Michael Mann previously directed Heat, Collateral and The Insider. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards and won two Emmy Awards. He also served as executive producer on Miami Vice’s 80s series, and created a film adaptation in 2006 starring Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell.
