Director Werner Herzog and Actor Nicolas Cage are currently in preproduction on a project based on the Abel Ferrara film, “Bad Lieutenant”. According to an interview with Herzog by Defamer, the new movie will not be a remake, per se, of the unforgettable 1992 original which starred Harvey Keitel as a crooked, corrupt, drug addicted, degenerate gambler New York City Police Department Lieutenant who chooses to bet against the Mets at the wrong time. Rather, Herzog explained, he and Cage will do a continuation of the character.   At least that’s what I think he said:

“Yes, but its not a remake. It’s like, for example, you wouldn’t call a new James Bond movie a remake of the previous one - although the name of the bad lieutenant is a different one, and the story is completely different.”

In another departure from Ferrara’s version, the new film will be set and shot in New Orleans, a decision Herzog says producer Edward R. Pressman - who also produced the original - made because of tax incentives, but that intrigues the director nonetheless. “…I thought to myself: “We have seen a lot of New York in movies; we have not seen New Orleans in feature films.” Or very few feature films. After Katrina it’s a particularly interesting set-up. The neglect and politics after the hurricane struck are something quite amazing. It has to do with public morality.” he explained.

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