Miami Vice ’85 First Look: Michael B. Jordan and Austin Butler Become Tubbs and Crockett

Universal Pictures has released the first official character images from Miami Vice ’85, revealing Michael B. Jordan as Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs and Austin Butler as James “Sonny” Crockett. The film’s verified account published the two portraits with Universal on October 12 and said the movie is now in production.

The reveal gives the new Crockett and Tubbs their first proper introduction without pretending that a trailer or finished scene exists. These are stylized studio character photographs: Butler’s Crockett leans into a firing stance in a grey suit, while Jordan’s Tubbs faces the camera in a black leather coat and patterned tie with his handgun lowered.

The first Crockett and Tubbs images

The official Crockett post identifies Butler by character name and carries the line “now in production.” Its companion Tubbs post does the same for Jordan. Both were co-published with Universal Pictures, making them the original first-party sources for the images rather than paparazzi photographs or unofficial poster art.

The portraits establish the actors’ screen identities, but they do not confirm a particular scene or plot beat. Universal has not released a trailer, a full synopsis or character-specific story details with this announcement.

What Universal has confirmed about the movie

Joseph Kosinski is directing from a screenplay by Dan Gilroy, drawing inspiration from the pilot and first season of the original television series. The project’s announced premise places the film against a mid-1980s Miami backdrop shaped by glamour and corruption. Anthony Yerkovich created the characters for the NBC series.

Kosinski previously brought another established 1980s property back to cinemas with Top Gun: Maverick; our review of that film covers the result. That connection explains his place in the new production’s creative team, but it does not reveal how Miami Vice ’85 will handle its story or style.

The reported ensemble also includes Alden Ehrenreich, Whitney Peak, Camila Morrone, Danny Ramirez, John Leguizamo, Andrew Schulz, Edi Gathegi, Walton Goggins, André Holland and Michael Irby. The first-look material does not identify most of their characters, so assigning roles beyond Crockett and Tubbs would go beyond what this reveal confirms.

The October 12 announcement confirms that production is underway. It does not establish that cameras first rolled on the day the images appeared, and no filming schedule or completion date has been announced publicly.

How Miami Vice ’85 relates to the series and 2006 film

The original Miami Vice ran from 1984 to 1989, with Don Johnson as Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Tubbs. Crockett and Tubbs are undercover Miami detectives, and the show’s music, fashion and neon-soaked visual identity became inseparable from its crime stories.

Michael Mann later directed the 2006 feature film, with Colin Farrell as Crockett and Jamie Foxx as Tubbs. Universal’s description of the new screenplay points back to the television pilot and first season. That makes Miami Vice ’85 a new film interpretation of the original material, not evidence that it is recreating the exact plot of the 2006 movie.

The title also makes the period setting explicit. The “’85” branding signals the middle of the decade in which the television series originally aired, while the first images present Jordan and Butler as new versions of the two central detectives.

Miami Vice ’85 release date

Universal’s official US film page lists Miami Vice ’85 for May 19, 2028 in US theaters. The Universal Pictures UK page separately lists the same date for Great Britain. The date predates this first-look reveal, so it should not be treated as newly announced on October 12.

Those two official listings do not establish a worldwide same-day rollout. Other international dates may differ, and Universal has not announced a streaming platform or home-release window. A trailer date, fuller plot and other territory-specific openings also remain unconfirmed.

For now, the two official portraits and the start-of-production message are the whole first look: Jordan is Tubbs, Butler is Crockett, and Kosinski’s film is moving through production toward Universal’s current May 2028 US theatrical date.