Even if you don’t deem yourself a diehard cinephile, you’ve likely seen “Heat.” Michael Mann’s 1995 thriller is one of the best crime films of all time. It famously features Al Pacino and Robert De Niro at the height of their careers, acting opposite each other for the first time ever. And for years, rumors abound about a possible “Heat” sequel film. Alas, that never came to pass. But as Mann announced a while ago, he’s taking all that “Heat” love and pouring it into a new prequel/sequel novel, simply titled “Heat 2.”
As seen in the little teaser for the book, which arrives in August, “Heat 2” isn’t just a sequel to the 1995 film, following the stories of what the characters did after the final credits rolled. No, the film takes a different approach, not only giving us the follow-up story, but also giving readers a chance to learn more about these characters’ pasts, as the story jumps back and forth from the past to the present.
“It’s been my intention for a long time to do the further stories of ‘Heat,’” Mann said to Deadline. “There was always a rich history or backstory about the events in these people’s lives before 1995 in ‘Heat’ and projection of where their lives would take them after.”
For those who have somehow never seen “Heat,” the film follows the story of LAPD police officer Vincent Hanna and master thief Neil McCauley, as they engage in a cat and mouse game, seeing which one will come out on top after a bank robbery. Pacino and De Niro starred in those two roles, but the film also featured Val Kilmer, Ashley Judd, Jon Voight, and Danny Trejo. “Heat 2” picks up right where the film leaves off with Kilmer’s character attempting to get out of Los Angeles.
“When I was writing the film, it was imperative for me to create complete life stories about all the characters and to know everything about them, including Neil McCauley’s early institutionalized years when he lost track of his brother, before he parachuted into the streets, young, angry and dangerous,” said Mann. “And, the novel shows a McCauley very much attached and the dramatic events that resulted in his dictum that “if you’re making moves on the street, have no attachments, allow nothing to be in your life that you cannot walk out on in thirty seconds flat if you spot the heat around the corner.”
Though it might not be the best title ever, “Heat 2” seems like one of the most exciting film-adjacent releases of 2022, when it arrives in August. You can see the teaser below.