First Look: Ansel Elgort, Ken Watanabe Tackle The Yakuza In Michael Mann’s Tokyo Vice

Ansel Elgort is going from West Side Story to East Side Story. The Far East, that is.

HBO Max has dropped the first look of its upcoming eight-part crime drama series Tokyo Vice, which premieres the same day as the US on Apr 7 on HBO. Two eps will debut on subsequent Thursdays leading up to the finale on Apr 28.

Created by Tony Award-winning playwright JT Rogers (Oslo), Tokyo Vice is based on American journalist Jake Adelstein’s 2009 memoir, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan, which chronicles his experience investigating the Yakuza at the Yomiuri Shimbun.

Elgort stars Adelstein (a role Daniel Radcliffe was once set to play) who embeds himself into the Tokyo Vice police squad to reveal corruption. The cast also includes Ken Watanabe, Rinko Kikuchi, Rachel Keller, Ella Rumpf, Hideaki Ito, Show Kasamatsu and Tomohisa Yamashita.

Michael Mann (Heat, Miami Vice) directed the pilot and is also one of the executive producers. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings helmer Destin Daniel Cretton is behind the rest of the episodes.

Production began in the Japanese capital in early 2020 but was suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Shooting resumed eight months later and wrapped in June 2021.

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Photo: HBO Max