We all knew what the main intention was from filmmaker Michael Mann when he and co-author Meg Gardiner published the “Heat 2” novel last August (You can read The Playlist’s review here). It was obvious they figured out how to make a follow-up film to one of the most beloved crime thrillers of all-time and wanted to test the waters first. Mann had confirmed his desire to turn the book into a theatrical release during the book tour last summer and now we have a credible status update of where things are at with that sequel.
A report from Deadline has backed up previous claims that they are indeed moving forward with “Heat 2” as Warner Bros. is attempting to make a deal to get involved while two-time Oscar nominee Adam Driver is being eyed to play the role of expert thief, Neil McCauley. That part was previously played by legendary actor Robert De Niro and Driver would be playing a younger version of the professional criminal in sequences set before the events of the original film. One of the key time periods in the book that would feature Driver’s version of McCauley would see him taking scores in 1988 adding the need to cast younger versions of partner Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer) and hot-shot Chicago cop Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) as his story is also told.
Here is the official synopsis of the novel via Harper Collins that gives more insight to what we should be looking forward to:
“One day after the end of ‘Heat,’ Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer) is holed up in Koreatown, wounded, half delirious, and desperately trying to escape LA. Hunting him is LAPD detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino). Hours earlier, Hanna killed Shiherlis’s brother in arms Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) in a gunfight under the strobe lights at the foot of an LAX runway. Now Hanna’s determined to capture or kill Shiherlis, the last survivor of McCauley’s crew, before he ghosts out of the city. In 1988, seven years earlier, McCauley, Shiherlis, and their highline crew are taking scores on the West Coast, the US-Mexican border, and now in Chicago. Driven, daring, they’re pulling in money and living vivid lives. And Chicago homicide detective Vincent Hanna—a man unreconciled with his history—is following his calling, the pursuit of armed and dangerous men into the dark and wild places, hunting an ultraviolent gang of home invaders. Meanwhile, the fallout from McCauley’s scores and Hanna’s pursuit cause unexpected repercussions in a parallel narrative, driving through the years following ‘Heat.‘”
The filmmaker recently worked with Driver on the Enzo Ferrari biopic “Ferrari,” so the pairing makes a lot of sense. Mann, of course, would return to direct if everything comes together as planned. Driver just wrapped up filming on director Francis Ford Coppola‘s mega-budgeted epic “Megalopolis.” There is no mention of screenwriters, at the moment for “Heat 2,” but there would be an expectation that Mann and Gardiner might have already started on one alongside the novelization.
This news is certainly encouraging about the prospects of a “Heat” sequel, however, other rumored names circling the project aren’t being supported as of yet. As time chugs along we’ll likely get more casting news as “Heat 2” undoubtably becomes one of the hotter projects for actors to land roles in given how much of a landmark the 1995 film has developed into.