‘New Jack City’ Reboot In The Works At Warner Bros.
There’s going to be a newNew Jack City. Warner Bros. is developing aNew Jack Cityreboot based on the 1991 neo-noir gangster film directed by Mario Van Peebles and starring Ice-T and Judd Nelson as two police officers trying to bring down a drug lord played by Wesley Snipes in the midst of the 1980s crack epidemic. Warner Bros. has tappedSnowfallactor and filmmakerMalcolm M. Maysto pen the reboot.
Deadlinebroke the news that Warner Bros. is developing aNew Jack Cityreboot with actor and filmmaker Malcolm M. Mays writing the script. Mays is a musician-turned-actor who currently stars in the FX dramaSnowfallwhich, fittingly, is about the beginnings of the crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles in the ’80s.
Mays has previously written and directed one feature film, a 2015 musical titledCovers. However, according to Deadline, he recently wroteFergusonfor Warner Bros., an adaptation of the bookTell the Truth&Shame the Devil: The Life, Legacy and Love of My Son Michael Brownby Lezley McSpadden with Lyah Beth LeFlore. Mays is also set to direct and produce the feature filmFlint, based on current Flint water crisis.
The 1991New Jack Citywas directed by Mario Van Peebles and featured an all-star cast that included Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Chris Rock, Flavor Flav, Allen Payne, Judd Nelson, and Van Peebles. The film, made for just $8 million, was considered a box office success after it pulled in a $48 million domestic box office gross.
Here is the synopsis for the originalNew Jack City:
Drug tycoon Nino Brown (Wesley Snipes) and his minions, known collectively as the Cash Money Brothers, have rapidly risen to the top of the New York City narcotics trade. Under Nino’s heartless leadership, the drug operation has grown into a multimillion-dollar empire. Scotty (Ice-T) and Nick (JuddNelson), two police officers who know their way around the streets of Harlem, aim to bring Nino and his cohorts down. To do so, though, they’ll have to play by Nino’s rules and go undercover.
No director or cast is yet attached toNew Jack City, butBill Gerber(A Star Is Born)is producing along with the original film’s producerDoug McHenry.Here’s the trailer for the original:
