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Tokyo Vice HBO Max release date, time, plot, cast, and trailer for the crime thriller

Director Michael Mann returns to the crime scene with a ‘90s-set Japanese police drama

by Jeff Spry
Updated: 
Originally Published: 

Besides creating the music-driven ‘80s TV series Miami Vice, director Michael Mann is best known for his intense crime movies Manhunter and Heat. Now the acclaimed filmmaker is back with the long-gestating Tokyo Vice, streaming exclusively on HBO Max. It’s a kinetic return to form for a director who’s been absent from the small screen lately.

Adapted from journalist Jake Adelstein’s 2009 memoir, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan, the project began back in 2013 as a feature film with Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe attached before it languished in development hell.

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Mann’s neon-soaked crime drama series was shot entirely on location in Tokyo, and shows the city’s organized crime team’s attempt to combat yakuza syndicates amid the turbulent underworld of late ‘90s Japan. Here’s everything you need to learn about the debut season of Tokyo Vice before the sirens start blaring.

What is the Tokyo Vice release date?

Tokyo Vice will stream exclusively on HBO Max beginning on April 7, 2022.

Don’t expect to see Tokyo’s scenic side.

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What is the Tokyo Vice release time?

HBO Max unveils new movies and TV shows at midnight Pacific, which is 3 a.m. Eastern.

How many episodes of Tokyo Vice are there?

Season 1 of Tokyo Vice consists of 10 episodes. The first three chapters will appear on HBO Max on April 7, and two new installments will arrive each week until the finale airs on April 28.

What is the plot of Tokyo Vice?

The series is based on Jake Adelstein’s 2009 non-fiction bestseller, Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan, which saw the investigative reporter chronicle his experience of being the first non-Japanese person to work for the Yomiuri Shimbun, one of Japan’s biggest newspapers. Covering the crime beat, Adelstein explored the intricate underbelly of Tokyo.

Michael Mann directed the pilot for Tokyo Vice, and serves as executive producer. Destin Daniel Cretton, who recently helmed Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, directed the remaining episodes.

Is there a trailer for Tokyo Vice?

Yes, HBO Max delivered the final official trailer on March 14.

Who’s in the cast for Tokyo Vice?

Tokyo Vice stars Golden Globe nominee Ansel Elgort (Baby Driver) alongside Academy Award nominees Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai) and Rinko Kikuchi (Babel). Elgort will portray Jake Adelstein.

“He’s got an American impetuosity that he has a difficulty restraining,” Mann said in a 2020 Deadline interview about Adelstein. “That native impulse both services and disservices him. The locals in his neighborhood know him. He’s embedded there. Everywhere else he’s an outsider in a society that’s not necessarily tolerant.”

Will there be a Tokyo Vice Season 2?

So far there’s been no mention of a second season for Tokyo Vice.

Tokyo Vice hits HBO Max on April 7, 2022.

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