Miami Vice ’85 Set Videos Put Austin Butler and Danny Ramirez in Motion
Fresh Miami Vice ’85 set videos offer a livelier glimpse of the crime thriller than a still photograph can provide. Austin Butler and Danny Ramirez are seen filming alongside Dominic Sessa, with the footage bringing the cast’s sharply defined screen personas into the streets and hinting at how the production will translate its retro world into a feature film.
The clips add movement to the first images released from the set: actors crossing the frame, costumes catching the light, and the surrounding locations helping establish the film’s visual mood. Rather than revealing major plot turns, these brief glimpses focus attention on performance and atmosphere—the two ingredients that made the original series feel like more than a conventional police procedural.
From first-look stills to on-location footage
Set photos that surfaced on October 12, 2026, showed Butler as James “Sonny” Crockett in a turquoise shirt, a white linen suit, Ray-Ban Wayfarer sunglasses, and crochet espadrilles. His blonde, mullet-inspired quiff completes the recognizable silhouette, while the newer footage shows how that carefully assembled look holds up in action.
Coverage of the first images from the shoot, including a closer look at Butler as Crockett and additional cast members, helped establish the film’s visual direction. The videos now make that direction feel more immediate, allowing fans to see the clothing and performances in the same environment rather than as isolated publicity images.
There is a particular pleasure in watching an iconic costume move. A suit that looks pristine in a photograph can seem stiff on screen, but linen, open collars, and light-colored footwear are designed to shift naturally with the body. The footage therefore offers an early test of whether the new production can make its period styling feel lived in instead of merely arranged for a camera.
The New Jersey filming location also creates an intriguing contrast with the series’ sun-soaked Miami identity. Production design, wardrobe, lighting, and camera placement can transform an ordinary street into a convincing period setting, and even a short clip invites viewers to search the background for details that suggest the world beyond the leads.
That change of location need not diminish the Florida connection. The goal is not simply to reproduce a postcard view of Miami, but to evoke the city’s humid nights, polished surfaces, and uneasy intersections of glamour and danger. The set videos begin to suggest how the film may build that atmosphere through framing and performance as much as geography.
Why the footage is drawing attention
For a reboot built around familiar characters, small visual choices carry unusual weight. Fans recognize Crockett’s pale suit and sunglasses immediately, but the actor still has to make the character feel distinct from the television version. The videos offer a first impression of Butler’s physical approach: the relaxed posture, controlled pace, and unhurried confidence associated with a detective who knows how to blend into a room.
Ramirez’s presence adds another point of interest. As viewers watch the pair share the frame, the central partnership begins to take shape before the film’s story details are fully known. That simple visual exchange can communicate hierarchy, trust, and tension—useful signals in a crime drama where undercover work depends on reading other people quickly.
The footage has generated conversation partly because it balances recognition with novelty. The costumes recall a famous screen image, while the contemporary performers and feature-film scale promise a fresh interpretation. That balance will remain essential as more material arrives, particularly when the film shifts from street-level glimpses to officially released scenes.
For now, the strongest takeaway is that the project is being presented as a tactile world rather than a museum display. Its characters are not just wearing period clothes; they are moving through a setting built to make those clothes, vehicles, and city streets feel connected. The next question is how the production’s fashion choices shape the personalities at the center of that world.
Austin Butler’s Sharp Looks Revive Sonny Crockett’s Signature Fashion
Butler’s wardrobe is the clearest bridge between Miami Vice ’85 and the television legacy that preceded it. The turquoise shirt, white linen suit, Wayfarer sunglasses, and crochet espadrilles form a distinctive ensemble, but the effect depends on how those pieces work together: light fabric suggests heat, the open styling feels informal, and the sunglasses give Crockett a guarded, observant edge.
The costume recalls the look Don Johnson established as Crockett in the original police drama, which aired from 1984 to 1989. That series helped make relaxed tailoring and pastel colors part of mainstream visual culture, turning a detective’s working wardrobe into a recognizable fashion statement.
Rebuilding an icon without copying it
There is a fine line between homage and imitation. A direct recreation might reproduce every familiar detail but leave little room for a new performance; a radical redesign could weaken the connection audiences expect. The set videos suggest that the filmmakers are using the original silhouette as a foundation, then allowing Butler’s appearance and movement to give it a different character.
The distinction is visible in the balance between polish and ease. Crockett’s clothes look carefully selected, yet they do not read like formal office attire. Linen wrinkles, the shirt’s vivid color breaks up the pale suit, and casual shoes keep the detective’s look grounded in a warm-weather routine rather than a fashion shoot.
That combination also tells a story about undercover identity. A detective working around wealthy criminals needs to appear comfortable in affluent spaces, but he cannot look so immaculate that he attracts the wrong kind of attention. Crockett’s relaxed elegance makes him seem both stylish and plausible, a useful disguise for someone moving between police work and criminal networks.
Readers can compare the early costume details with another report on Butler’s transformation into Sonny Crockett. The response to the look shows how much character information can be conveyed before a line of dialogue is heard.
Fashion also gives the film a practical way to signal its era without relying on constant verbal reminders. Hairstyles, eyewear, fabric, and color all establish a specific visual vocabulary. When those elements are consistent across a scene, audiences can enter the period quickly; when they are selectively updated, the movie can feel accessible without pretending that 1985 and the present are identical.
The visual language of pastel crime stories
The original series became known for color, atmosphere, and a presentation that often felt closer to a music video than a standard procedural. Its approach influenced later television and film, but the most durable image remains surprisingly simple: a sharply dressed detective framed against a vivid landscape, with danger hidden beneath the stylish surface.
The new production can draw on that history while using modern cinema tools to refine it. A turquoise shirt may appear more saturated under one lighting setup and more subdued under another; the choice can change the mood of a scene without changing a word of dialogue. Costume and cinematography therefore operate as partners, shaping how viewers read Crockett’s confidence and vulnerability.
The clothing may also help distinguish Crockett from Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs, played by Michael B. Jordan. Contrast between two detectives can be created through cut, color, and silhouette, giving each character a separate visual identity while keeping them credible as partners. That contrast matters in close two-shots, where the audience reads both men at once.
A useful way to track the design is to look beyond the headline pieces and consider the details visible in the videos:
- Color: The turquoise shirt gives the pale suit a recognizable focal point and keeps the outfit from becoming visually flat.
- Texture: Linen and crochet bring a tactile, warm-weather quality that separates the costume from conventional business tailoring.
- Accessories: Wayfarer sunglasses strengthen the silhouette and suggest the character’s composed, watchful nature.
- Movement: The relaxed fit allows the clothes to function during filming rather than appearing as static replicas.
These details illustrate why the costume is more than nostalgic decoration. It supports character, period, and tone at the same time, while giving the marketing campaign an instantly legible image. The next test is how Butler’s visual identity fits beside the rest of the cast.
Danny Ramirez, Dominic Sessa, and the Miami Vice ’85 Cast
Although Butler’s Crockett is the most immediately recognizable figure in the new footage, the set videos also spotlight Danny Ramirez and Dominic Sessa. Their presence broadens the frame beyond a single iconic costume, suggesting that the film’s visual world will be built around an ensemble rather than a one-character recreation.
Butler stars opposite Michael B. Jordan, who plays detective Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs. That pairing places two actors with very different screen energies at the center of the story, a useful contrast for a drama about undercover work, partnership, and the uncertain boundary between performance and identity.
How the central partnership can drive the story
Crockett and Tubbs are compelling as a duo because their work requires both coordination and individual judgment. In undercover operations, a pair may need to perform a shared identity convincingly while privately tracking separate risks. A brief exchange between the leads can therefore carry several layers: what their characters say to their criminal targets, what they communicate to each other, and what the audience suspects they are holding back.
The set videos do not disclose the plot mechanics, but they provide a first visual sense of the performers sharing a production space. That matters because chemistry is not created only through dialogue. Distance, eye contact, timing, and how actors respond to movement around them can make a partnership feel instinctive before the script spells out its history.
Ramirez’s appearance in the footage adds another dimension to the cast’s on-set picture. The actor brings a recognizable screen presence from earlier film and television work, while Sessa offers a different generational and dramatic texture. Their inclusion suggests a larger network of characters surrounding the detectives, which suits a story involving organized crime rather than a case that begins and ends with one suspect.
The supporting cast includes Alden Ehrenreich, Whitney Peak, Camila Morrone, John Leguizamo, Andrew Schulz, Edi Gathegi, Walton Goggins, André Holland, and Michael Irby. With performers associated with varied genres and screen personas, the ensemble has the potential to make the criminal and law-enforcement worlds feel populated by people with competing interests rather than interchangeable plot functions.
What the wider ensemble contributes
A broad cast can give an undercover story more than scale. Each recurring contact, rival, or ally can test a different side of the detectives’ identities, forcing Crockett and Tubbs to adapt their methods. One character might respond to polished charm, while another notices a discrepancy in a story; such shifts create tension without requiring every scene to become an action sequence.
The range of performers also leaves room for tonal variety. A crime thriller can move from procedural observation to personal conflict and sudden danger, and a well-chosen ensemble helps those transitions feel organic. Leguizamo and Goggins, for example, are known for vivid character work, while Holland and Gathegi have appeared in projects that lean into measured dramatic tension. Their presence expands the possibilities for the supporting roles.
Reports on the early promotional images, including coverage of Butler and Jordan’s first looks as Crockett and Tubbs, have focused on the central duo. The newer videos add a complementary layer by showing other cast members in the production environment, broadening the sense of a shared story world.
For audiences, the appeal is not simply recognizing familiar names. The more important question is whether each performer gives the film a distinct point of view. In a story about deception, even a supporting character can change the meaning of a scene by appearing trustworthy, unpredictable, or impossible to read.
That ensemble foundation leads directly to the creative team’s challenge: shaping a period crime story with contemporary cinematic scale while keeping the characters at its center. The production’s director, writer, and cinematographer will determine how that balance appears on screen.
Joseph Kosinski’s Miami Vice ’85 Brings a Crime Drama to IMAX
Joseph Kosinski directs Miami Vice ’85 from a screenplay by Dan Gilroy. Eric Warren Singer wrote an earlier draft, while the characters were created by Anthony Yerkovich for the original television series. That combination connects the project to its established roots while placing the new film in the hands of a director experienced with large-scale visual storytelling.
Kosinski’s credits include Top Gun: Maverick and F1, both films built around precise movement, immersive environments, and the physical sensation of being close to the action. Those skills could suit a crime story that uses cars, streets, and undercover encounters as more than background decoration.
Translating television atmosphere into feature-film scale
The original series made style part of its storytelling grammar. A neon-lit street or a carefully composed skyline could establish mood before the crime plot moved forward, allowing the setting to feel like an active force. A feature film can revisit that method with expanded image detail and sound, but it must preserve the same basic principle: spectacle works best when it reveals something about character or danger.
The production is being filmed for IMAX, with Claudio Miranda serving as cinematographer. Miranda previously worked with Kosinski on Top Gun: Maverick and F1, giving the director and cinematographer an established creative partnership. Their collaboration may help the new film use scale purposefully, whether a scene opens onto a broad city view or narrows into the tense space between two undercover detectives.
Large-format presentation can make details in the set videos feel significant. The texture of linen, the reflection in a pair of sunglasses, and the movement of a car through a location may all register more clearly in a theatrical image. Yet technical ambition alone does not guarantee emotional impact; the visual choices still need to support the story’s human stakes.
Gilroy’s screenplay is an important part of that equation. A crime narrative needs more than stylish locations: it depends on credible motives, clear pressure, and decisions that become harder as the investigation deepens. The original series drew on the danger of undercover policing, and a modern film can explore that premise through the tension between the detectives’ assignments and the identities they perform.
Production choices that shape the experience
Universal Pictures is producing the film, with Kosinski and Dylan Clark among the producers. The combination of a major studio, an IMAX-oriented production plan, and a high-profile cast suggests an event-sized release, but the set footage keeps the focus on physical details rather than abstract scale. A recognizable shirt, a period street, or a measured exchange between performers can communicate more than a sweeping production announcement.
Filming in New Jersey while evoking Miami also highlights the role of production design. Location teams can reshape streets with signage, vehicles, lighting, and carefully selected camera angles. When those decisions work together, viewers accept the setting on its own terms instead of scrutinizing every background detail for geographic accuracy.
The creative challenge is to make 1985 feel specific without making it feel remote. Period fashion and production design can establish the past, while performance and pacing give the characters immediacy. The film’s title signals a particular year, but its emotional concerns—loyalty, ambition, crime, and the cost of living under an assumed identity—remain legible to contemporary audiences.
That balance will also influence how the film is marketed. Early photographs emphasize recognition, while moving set videos can suggest rhythm and tone. As more official material arrives, the production’s visual choices will show whether the film leans toward a faithful period recreation, a modern reinterpretation, or a deliberate combination of both.
For viewers following the broader conversation around the project, the first-look report on Butler and Jordan offers a useful companion to the new on-set glimpses. Together, the images and footage sketch the production’s central promise: familiar characters framed through a cinematic approach designed for the big screen.
That production approach sets up the larger question of legacy: how can a film honor a series whose influence extends beyond its original run without simply repeating its most famous images?
Miami Vice ’85 Revisits the Original Series for a New Audience
The original Miami Vice aired from 1984 to 1989 and helped define a particular vision of television crime storytelling. Its polished images, pop-cultural influence, and stories about drug trafficking and organized crime made it stand apart from more conventional police dramas of its era. The new film draws inspiration from the pilot and first season, returning to the beginning of Crockett and Tubbs’ world rather than treating the series as a collection of references.
That starting point offers a practical advantage. A film can introduce the partnership and its working methods to viewers who never watched the television show, while longtime fans can recognize the foundations of the characters. The story therefore has room to function as a fresh entry point rather than a sequel that assumes detailed knowledge of decades-old episodes.
Why the 1980s setting still resonates
Period storytelling often succeeds when its details do more than trigger nostalgia. The 1980s setting gives the filmmakers a different landscape of communication, policing, and street-level investigation, while the era’s fashion and visual design provide a strong aesthetic identity. These elements can shape the suspense: characters have fewer instant ways to verify information, and trust can become a more consequential tool.
The show’s influence remains visible in the way crime stories use music, color, and location to establish mood. Many contemporary productions borrow a polished visual language, but the original series helped popularize the idea that a police drama could be stylish without abandoning its procedural tensions. A reboot has to understand that balance; simply adding pastel clothing to a generic action plot would miss what made the material distinctive.
There is also a generational opportunity. Viewers who know the series primarily through cultural references can encounter Crockett and Tubbs as characters rather than icons, while returning fans can see how a new cast interprets established roles. The best adaptation can serve both groups by making each scene understandable on its own and rewarding recognition without demanding it.
The footage’s focus on sharp looks is part of that conversation, but the lasting test will be narrative. If the wardrobe reflects undercover work and personality, it deepens the story; if it functions only as a costume display, the effect may fade after the first trailer. The same principle applies to the film’s cars, music, locations, and references to the source material.
Release plans and what the early material can—and cannot—show
Miami Vice ’85 is scheduled to arrive in theaters on May 19, 2028. That date places the film well beyond the early set-video stage, leaving room for further casting details, trailers, and promotional images before release. The current footage is an early snapshot of filming rather than a complete guide to the final edit or the finished story.
A useful viewing framework is to separate what the videos reveal from what they merely suggest. They show Butler’s costume, Ramirez and Sessa on set, and the production’s period atmosphere; they suggest a renewed emphasis on visual style and the central partnership. They do not yet establish the full plot, the exact roles of every supporting performer, or how much of the finished film will echo the television series.
That distinction can keep online speculation grounded while still leaving room for enthusiasm. A still image may invite discussion about a character’s look, while a moving clip can prompt questions about blocking, chemistry, and tone. Neither replaces a trailer, but both help audiences understand the creative direction as filming progresses.
For a title with such a strong cultural footprint, the choice to make a theatrical, IMAX-oriented crime thriller is a statement about scale as well as nostalgia. The film is being positioned to revisit a celebrated television world while presenting it to cinema audiences with a new cast and a feature-length canvas.
As additional material emerges, the most revealing clues may be the smallest ones: how the detectives share a frame, how their clothes change between assignments, and whether the film’s vivid surfaces conceal the same unease that gave the original series its edge.
