Nearly three decades since Warner Bros released Michael Mann‘s iconic crime movie, Heat, in theaters, the studio and filmmaker are currently in negotiations to make a sequel for the screen, Deadline is reporting. Warner Bros is looking to reunite with Mann to create a screen follow-up to their 1995 classic drama. The writer-director previously crafted the sequel into a novel last summer, which became a No. 1 New York Times bestseller.
In addition to Warner Bros. joining the Oscar-nominated Mann on the movie, Adam Driver is in discussions with the filmmaker to play a young version Neil McCauley in the sequel. If the Academy Award-nominated actor is cast as the role that was originated by Robert De Niro in the first film, it will be the second time he works with Mann on a feature; Driver and the filmmaker previously worked on the upcoming biographical feature, Ferrari, which Mann helmed.
The director also scribed the script for the upcoming biopic with Troy Kennedy Martin. They based the screenplay on the 1991 non-fiction book, Enzo Ferrari — The Man, The Cars, The Races, The Machine, which was penned by motorsport journalist Brock Yates.
Warner Bros. is in negotiations to fund the development of Heat 2. Arnon Milchan’s production company, New Regency, co-financed the first movie, and if the follow-up moves forward, the company would be given an opportunity to co-finance the new project.
But Mann is currently the guiding force that’s moving this project forward. He’s optimistic that the film is moving in the right direction to find a production company and distributor.
Heat 2 was written by Mann and Meg Gardiner. It tells the story of everything that happens to the original movie’s principal characters before and after the events of the first feature.
The book jumps between two time periods. The first period follows Chris Shiherlis, who was played by Val Kilmer in the first film, as he tries to evade the LAPD. Meanwhile, Al Pacino’s character in the original movie, Detective Vincent Hanna, follows the bank robbery as it goes wrong. He moves forward into new territory in the tri-border zone and Southeast Asia.
The second storyline takes readers 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.
Since the publication of the Heat novel in August, when it became one of the year’s biggest publications, Mann hinted he ultimately wanted to adapt the book into a theatrical film. At the time, however, he was starting production on Ferrari, so his focus was on that project.
Even though he is still working on the drama’s post-production, the potential for Heat 2 to become the director’s next movie began early this year. The likelihood that he’ll work on the screen sequel next is high, as he has been passionate about making it since the original feature was released.
Besides Driver, there has also been speculation over which talent would return for Heat 2, and which new actors would take on younger version of the roles that were made famous in the film film. Those performers include Pacino reprising hsi role of Hanna in present times and Ana de Armas playing McCauley’s love interest in the 1988 timeline.
In addition to the casting and exact plot details, few details have been released about the screen adaptation of Heat 2, including when it will be distributed.
