Martin Scorsese once called the original one of the best films of the ’90s.
Bad Lieutenant, the extremely dark 1992 crime drama starring Harvey Keitel that was once banned in Ireland, is getting a surprise reboot.
The original saw Keitel play the unnamed title character, a corrupt New York cop addicted to drugs and steeped in gambling debt who exploits his authority in a variety of awful ways.
While investigating a shocking crime committed against a nun, however, the policeman starts to wrestle with his shocking actions. Can he find redemption despite what he has done?
Co-written and directed by cult filmmaker Abel Ferrara (King of New York), Bad Lieutenant plunges the viewer into the depths of addiction and depravity before building to an incredibly powerful Church-set scene in which Keitel’s cop finally properly reckons with his crimes.
And though the film provoked controversy upon release for its lurid story, Bad Lieutenant was also praised by many for its stunningly brave central performance, its authentically gritty direction, and the film's religious iconography and theme of redemption.In fact, Martin Scorsese named it the fifth best movie of the '90s, telling critic Roger Ebert: "Abel Ferrara‘s Bad Lieutenant, starring my old friend and collaborator Harvey Keitel. He’s always taken risks as an actor, and in the ’90s, in this film in particular, he really reached his prime."
In 2009, Ferrara's movie got a New Orleans-set reboot starring Nicolas Cage and directed by Werner Herzog, which is also excellent, if less abrasive in its content.
Despite being acclaimed, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans was not a big box office hit, which makes news that there will be a new Bad Lieutenant film all the more surprising.
The third movie in the franchise is titled Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo and will centre around a corrupt gambler (Shun Oguri, Godzilla vs Kong) in the Metropolitan Police Force who finds himself thrown into a tangled case.
This is after an enigmatic FBI agent (Lily James, Pam & Tommy) arrives in the Japanese capital to investigate the disappearance of a politician’s daughter (WWE star Liv Morgan).
Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo has started filming and will be directed by cult Japanese director Takashi Miike (Audition, 13 Assassins). It does not yet have a release date.
BAD LIEUTENANT TOKYO. A new story from legendary Takashi Miike. Starring Shun Oguri, Lily James, and Liv Morgan. pic.twitter.com/lCiRblYReI
— NEON (@neonrated) May 1, 2025
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
