Director Michael Mann has confirmed that his next film will be “Heat 2,” a concept he novelized earlier this year. The new movie will be a follow-up to his 1995 hit “Heat” starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Val Kilmer.
During Deadline’s Contenders London event, when the “Ferrari” director was asked whether the novel adaptation would be his next project. “Yes. Meg Gardiner and myself wrote the novel Heat 2, which came out right when we were shooting Ferrari,” Mann responded. “It did very well. I plan to shoot that next.”
There had already been rumors before the Hollywood labor strikes that Mann would be doing the sequel next. There were also rumblings that he would be casting “Ferrari” star Adam Driver as Neil McCauley, a character originally played by De Niro. When asked if he would re-team up with Driver for the movie, Mann said;
“Perhaps. We don’t talk about that yet. Let me put it this way: Adam and I got along like a house on fire [on Ferrari]. We have the same work ethic – which is pretty intense. We like each other, and we had a great time working together artistically.”
“Heat 2” will serve as both a prequel and a sequel to the first film. The story will follow McCauley, Chris Shiherlis (originally played by Kilmer), and Vincent Hanna (originally played by Pacino) in the years leading up to the L.A.-set crime drama. It will also chronicle what happens to the surviving characters in the years after the events of the first film.
The novel takes place in Chicago in the year 1988. Where we follow McCauley, Shiherlis, and their crew taking scores on the West Coast, U.S.-Mexico border, and Chicago. While simultaneously following Hanna as he is cutting his teeth in the Chicago Police Department chasing an ultraviolent gang of home invaders.
The novelization of “Heat 2” was published in August, hitting No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Pick up your own copy here.
We’ll keep you posted on updates about “Heat 2” as they become available. Mann’s “Ferrari” will hit theaters on December 25th, 2023.
