Not long after Michael Mann released his Heat sequel novel, he was talking about adapting it into “one large movie.” Well, the filmmaker is now in talks with Warner Bros. to direct Heat 2 three decades after the first movie was released!
Mann previously explained: “It’s totally planned to be a movie. Is it a modest movie? No. Is it a very expensive series? No. It’s going to be one large movie.” It’s also being reported that Adam Driver is currently in discussions with Mann to play young Neil McCauley in the movie. The character was previously played by Robert De Niro.
Mann already explained that De Niro and Val Kilmer wouldn’t be able to reprise their roles: “I love those guys, but they’d have to be six years younger than they were in Heat.” But, Mann seems confident that the sequel would be a success, saying:
“It’s sustained in culture. It’s known. I could delude myself into thinking that the whole world is familiar with it, but when you check out its prominence in home vid for over 20 years, this thing really has legs. People are still watching it, people are still talking about it. It’s a brand. It’s kind of a Heat universe, in a way. And that certainly justifies a very large ambitious movie.”
The sequel will tell the story of what led up to the events in the first film, which is set in 1989, and what happened after, which is set in 2002. It covers “the formative years of homicide detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) and elite criminals Neil McCauley (De Niro), Chris Shiherlis (Kilmer), and Nate (Jon Voight), and features the same extraordinary ambition, scope, rich characterizations, and attention to detail as the epic film."
This new story "leads up to the events of the film and then moves beyond it, featuring new characters on both sides of the law, new high-line heists, and breathtakingly cinematic action sequences. Ranging from the streets of L.A. to the inner sancta of rival Taiwanese crime syndicates in Paraguay to a massive drug cartel money-laundering operation just over the border in Mexico, Heat 2 illuminates the dangerous workings of international crime organizations and the agents who pursue them as it provides a full-blooded portrait of the men and women who inhabit both worlds. Operatic in scope, Heat 2 is engrossing, moving, and tragic—a masterpiece of crime fiction from one of the most innovative and influential filmmakers in American cinema.”
It’s explained that the book jumps between two time periods, “the first following Chris Shiherlis as he tries to evade the LAPD and Detective Vincent Hanna following the bank robbery gone bad and moves forward into new territory in the tri-border zone and Southeast Asia. The second storyline takes readers back to Chicago in 1988 when McCauley, Shiherlis and their high-line crew are taking scores on the West Coast, the U.S.-Mexico border, and in Chicago. At the same time, Hanna is cutting his teeth as a rising star in the Chicago police department chasing an ultraviolent gang of home invaders. The fallout from McCauley’s scores and Hanna’s pursuit cause unexpected repercussions in a parallel narrative.”
Mann and Driver recently worked together on Ferrari, which is currently deep in post-production. Heat 2 very well could be the filmmaker’s next film project.
It’s great to see that Mann might actually get to make Heat 2! The first film was so good, and I’m excited to see what he does with bringing the story for the sequel to life!
Source: Deadline
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