Universal Pictures crews were scouting in Santo Domingo in December and January for sites for the filming of scenes for the movie version of Miami Vice, the popular NBC cop drama that ran from 1984-89. Filming would start in April under director Michael Mann. Colin Farrell is cast as Detective James ?Sonny? Crockett and Jamie Foxx as Detective Ricardo Tubbs. Michael Mann was a writer and executive producer on the original Miami Vice TV show. The movie tells the story of Sonny Crockett who is an undercover vice detective in Miami who lives on a boat with his pet alligator. Rico Tubbs is a street cop from New York who went to Florida to track down his brother?s murderer. Together, they act as an unlikely but highly-effective team for combating the drug rings that make Miami their home.