Multiple 'Bad Lieutenant' Remakes Set In Other Countries In The Works

Once upon a time, there was a plan to turn Abel Ferrara‘s sleaze/bad cop masterpiece, “Bad Lieutenant,” into a franchise. The original 1992 film starring Harvey Keitel was rated NC-17, featured full-frontal nudity of its star, and generally shocked and scandalized audiences with its lurid depravity about a rogue cop spiraling into drugs, violent delusions of grandeur, and madness. Along with “Reservoir Dogs,” it remains one of the most visceral movies from the early 1990s that left a lasting impression.

Filmmaker Werner Herzog directed a spin-off with the New Orleans-set film “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” in 2009, starring Nicolas Cage (which started a minor feud in the press with Ferrara). While the film kept the bonkers nature of the lead character intact, the general lunacy of the film may have gone too far; it lacked the depth and grittiness of the Ferrara film, audiences didn’t really catch on, and plans for more spin-off seemingly faded away.

Well, thanks to Ed Pressman and Pressman Film, one of the original producers of both films, those plans are coming back to life, and we could be getting as many as five “Bad Lieutenant” spin-offs or reimaginings, depending on how they are done.

Screen Daily has the exclusive announcement that Pressman Film is behind a wave of local-langue pics set in countries like the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, South Korea, and Argentina. While speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, the producer stopped short of saying who exactly is writing or directing these remakes but insisted the plan to create a franchise is back on its feet again.

Pressman said of the remakes, “It’s like planting the same seed in a different climate. Each grows in its own way, but the germ of the idea is a corrupt cop.” We’ll keep our fingers crossed for someone like Kim Jee Woon (“I Saw The Devil,” “Illang: The Wolf Brigade“) to be selected for that South Korean incarnation. Could you imagine Bad Lieutenant: Argentina,” directed by Lucrecia Martel?

That isn’t the only remake Pressman talked about, as he mentioned that there would be an announcement concerning their long-gestating reboot of mature anti-hero “The Crow” in the future. You might remember that Jason Momoa (“Aquaman,” “Dune,” “Game of Thrones“) was once going to play Eric Draven in a reboot from British director Corin Hardy (“Gangs of London,” “The Nun“) until the project dissolved.

The Alex Proyas-directed film from 1994 was based on the James O’Barr comic book that focuses on a musician and his girlfriend being murdered with the boyfriend, Eric Draven, returning from the dead to kill the gang members behind their murder. It remains a bit of a cult favorite thanks to a solid visual style combined with a popular soundtrack. Sadly, the original film led to the accidental death of Bruce Lee‘s son Brandon Lee, who starred in the movie as Draven. It spawned three sequels, with “The Crow: City of Angels” being the only standout and a television series “The Crow: Stairway To Heaven.”