Heat Director Michael Mann Shoots Down Longtime Rumor About Diner Scene
Michael Mann debunks longstanding theory about Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino in Heat.
Michael Mann is an Oscar-nominated director known for many famous films ranging from Thief and Manhunter to Ali and Collateral. Mann's latest film is Ferrari, which is based on a key portion of the life of Enzo Ferrari, the former racer who founded the Ferrari car company. While promoting the new movie, the director addressed one of his most famous films: Heat. Heat was the first movie to ever pair Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino. Recently, Mann spoke with Collider and addressed the longstanding rumor that DeNiro and Pacino weren't actually on set together when they filmed the coffee shop scene, which is a rare moment in the film that features both actors.
"I've been asked a whole bunch of questions about Heat and the coffee shop scene, which, by the way, is an event that really occurred in real life. When Al [Pacino] and Bob [De Niro] were facing each other, for some reason there was some rumor that they weren't actually there at the same time. I don't know why everybody thought that," Mann shared.
"What it was, there's actually three cameras, and what you're wearing on your chest is what the third camera was shooting, which is the profile two-shot, but I never used it because every time I went to that shot it removed us and made us observers of the two men instead of being empathetically, subjectively inside that dialogue," he explained. "So, I always only use the two overs because everything we did was simultaneous. I had two cameras set up just out of reach, just out of sight of each other, shooting that scene."
Is Heat 2 Happening?
It's been confirmed Mann is working on the long-awaited sequel to Heat, which is expected to see him reunite with Ferrari star, Adam Driver. However, the actor's casting has not been officially confirmed.
"Yes," Mann explained to Deadline in October. "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."
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.
Ferrari will be in theaters on December 25. Stay tuned for more updates about Heat 2.
