Heat 2: Michael Mann Gives Casting Update

Michael Mann is currently promoting his latest feature film, Ferrari, which is based on a key portion of the life of Enzo Ferrari. The director is known for an array of films, including Heat, the 1995 crime thriller that was the first movie to ever pair Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino. It’s been confirmed Mann is working on the long-awaited sequel to Heat, and it’s been rumored it will feature Ferrari star, Adam Driver. However, the actor’s casting in Heat 2 has not been confirmed. During a recent interview with The Playlist, Mann shared an update on the film’s casting process. 

“It’s going to be a combination [of CG and makeup]. And so, it won’t be [Robert De Niro] and Al [Pacino] playing McCauley and Hanna,” Mann shared. “And it actually starts eight years earlier than the movie. It starts in 1988, and then it’s gonna jump to 2000. But I don’t really know who to cast until I’ve actually written the screenplay, but I’m in the middle of writing the screenplay right now. And Warner Bros. have been very patient.”

“Sure, but I’m not interested in doing it as a long form,” Mann added when asked if the follow-up could be a TV series. “I’m only interested in doing it as a movie, same scale as the 1995 film.”

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.

What Is Ferrari About?

You can read the official synopsis for Ferrari below: 

It is the summer of 1957. Behind the spectacle of Formula 1, ex-racer Enzo Ferrari is in crisis. Bankruptcy threatens the factory he and his wife, Laura built from nothing ten years earlier. Their volatile marriage has been battered by the loss of their son, Dino a year earlier. Ferrari struggles to acknowledge his son Piero with Lina Lardi. Meanwhile, his drivers’ passion to win pushes them to the edge as they launch into the treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy, the Mille Miglia.

Ferrari stars Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gordon, Gabriel Leone, Jack O’Connell, and Patrick Dempsey. The film was directed by Mann from a screenplay by Troy Kennedy Martin.

Ferrari will be in theaters on December 25.