Heat 2 has become something of an enigma in the movie world, with fans curious to see Michael Mann’s follow-up to the hit 1995 crime film. Earlier this year, it was reported that Heat 2 is officially in development, based off of the story Mann published in the form of a novel in 2022. If recent reports are any indication, Star Wars and 65 alum Adam Driver might end up playing the younger version of Robert De Niro’s Neil McCauley — and Mann recently confirmed the possibility. In a recent interview with Deadline, Mann revealed that he plans for Heat 2 to be his next film, while also recognizing that he has a profound working relationship with Driver, who stars in his upcoming biopic Ferrari.
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“Yes,” Mann explained. “Meg Gardiner and myself wrote the novel Heat 2, which came out right when we were shooting Ferrari. It did very well. I plan to shoot that next.”
“Perhaps,” Mann said of the possibility of reuniting with Driver. “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.”
What Is Heat 2 About?
The Heat 2 novel, co-written by Mann and Meg Gardiner, Meg Gardiner tells the story of everything that happens before and after to the film’s principal characters. The novel jumps between two time periods, the first following Chris Shiherlis as he tries to evade LAPD and Detective Vincent Hanna following the bank robbery gone bad with the second taking us back to Chicago in 1988 when McCauley, Chris Shiherlis, and their high-line crew are taking scores on the West Coast, the US-Mexican border, and now 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.
“Is it a modest movie? No. Is it a very expensive series? No,” Mann said of his hopes to adapt Heat 2 in an interview with Empire last year. “It’s going to be one large movie.”
“It’s sustained in culture,” Mann said. “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.”
What do you think of the latest update around Heat 2? Do you hope Adam Driver stars in the Michael Mann movie? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
