As James Mangold’s Ford v Ferrari revs into theaters shortly, we can’t help but mourn what was going to be Michael Mann’s next film. The director, who hasn’t helmed a feature since 2013’s severely overlooked Blackhat, still doesn’t have a film on the horizon, but he finally has announced a new project.
Joining the likes of Studio Ghibli and Steven Soderbergh, Mann is teaming with HBO Max to helm the pilot of Tokyo Vice, Deadline reports. Starring Ansel Elgort and Ken Watanabe, the J.T. Rogers-scripted series is based on Jake Adelstein’s 2010 memoir Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan. See a synopsis of the novel below.
A riveting true-life tale of newspaper noir and Japanese organized crime from an American investigative journalist. Jake Adelstein is the only American journalist ever to have been admitted to the insular Tokyo Metropolitan Police Press Club, where for twelve years he covered the dark side of Japan: extortion, murder, human trafficking, fiscal corruption, and of course, the yakuza. But when his final scoop exposed a scandal that reverberated all the way from the neon soaked streets of Tokyo to the polished Halls of the FBI and resulted in a death threat for him and his family, Adelstein decided to step down. Then, he fought back. In Tokyo Vice he delivers an unprecedented look at Japanese culture and searing memoir about his rise from cub reporter to seasoned journalist with a price on his head.
Production will kick off this February and Mann, who is already casting and scounting in Japan, is also considering directing more episodes in the first season. As we await the pilot, check out Mann’s 10 favorite films here and see his announcement of his next project, a Heat sequel novel, below, as well as a Ted Talk from Adelstein about his experience.
Episode 162 of One Heat Minute special guest is Reed Farrel Coleman, New York Times Bestselling author with whom I am co-writing a novel with the characters of Heat to be published by Harper Collins next year#oneheatminute #heatmovie #michaelmann #michaelmannbooks pic.twitter.com/qAHdyd85ca
— Michael Mann (@MichaelMann) July 3, 2019