Miike takes Bad Lieutenant to Tokyo for Toronto premiere
Takashi Miike has brought the Bad Lieutenant badge to Tokyo.
His 108-minute film, Bad Lieutenant: Tokyo, premiered at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival after a world premiere slot due on 14 September. It is the second re-imagining of Abel Ferrara's 1992 neo-noir Bad Lieutenant starring Harvey Keitel, according to Variety.
Shun Oguri stars as Yabuki, a divorced and drug-addled Tokyo detective. Lily James plays FBI agent Gwen Birgssen, and Gionna Daddio, credited as Liv Morgan, plays culinary student Megan, according to Variety. The script is by Daisuke Tengan.
The lineage is short. Ferrara made the original. Werner Herzog directed the 2009 version, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. Miike's film borrows the broad strokes but tells its own Yakuza-centred story, and drops the God-centred redemption of Ferrara's original, according to Variety.
It is a United States and Japan co-production with dialogue in English and Japanese, according to the Toronto International Film Festival. That mix shapes the cast. Oguri leads a Japanese ensemble. James and Daddio bring the English-language side.
For buyers, this means a festival launch with a US home already set. Neon acquired the film and will release it domestically, meaning the United States and Canada, at a later date, according to IndieWire. The premiere in Toronto, which reported the acquisition, locks in that path from festival screen to cinema release.
The credits also carry a well-known name. Jeremy Thomas, the veteran British producer, has a producing credit on the film, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
