EXCLUSIVE: It’s been nearly three decades since Michael Mann’s crime classic Heat hit theaters via Warner Bros, and it now feels like Mann and the studio are finally feeling more heat around the corner for a sequel. While rumors have been swirling for weeks, Deadline is hearing that Warner Bros is now in negotiations to come on to develop Heat 2, a sequel to the 1995 classic that Mann recently turned into a novel. The book, published in August, became a No. 1 New York Times bestseller.
On top of Warner Bros in talks to return, insiders add that Adam Driver, who recently starred in Mann’s Ferrari, is in discussions with Mann to play young Neil McCauley in the movie.
Warner Bros and reps for Mann had no comment.
Sources say WB is in negotiations to fund the development of the project, and that as of now no partner is involved. Arnon Milchan’s New Regency co-financed the first film and insiders add if and when the project is in a good place to move forward, they would be given an opportunity to co-finance. As of now, Mann is the guiding force moving this project forward and things are headed in the right direction for it to find a home.
Heat 2 was penned by Mann and Meg Gardiner and is not a novelization of Mann’s film, rather it tells the story of everything that happens before and after to the principal characters. The book jumps between two time periods, the first following Chris Shiherlis as he tries to evade the LAPD and Detective Vincent Hanna following the bank robbery gone bad and moves forward into new territory in the tri-border zone and Southeast Asia. The second storyline takes readers back to Chicago in 1988 when McCauley, Shiherlis and their high-line crew are taking scores on the West Coast, the U.S.-Mexico border, and 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.
Since its publication in August when it became one of the year’s biggest publications, Mann hinted he ultimately wanted to adapt the novel into a theatrical movie. At the time, however, he was starting production on Ferrari with Driver and all of his focus was on that pic. Even though he is still deep into post-production on Ferrari, things started taking shape at the top the year for Heat 2 to be Mann’s next feature film, one he has been passionate about making for nearly three decades.
Since the top of the year, rumors have been swirling over what talent would either return or which new actors would take on younger version of these roles that have since become iconic. From Al Pacino returning to play Hanna in present times to Ana de Armas playing McCauley’s love interest in the 1988 timeline, there are many hoping to join, but Driver is the one we hear is firmly attached.
The original 1995 pic starred Pacino, Robert De Niro as McCauley and Val Kilmer as Shiherlis. While it was a solid hit, it has since become a revered crime classic with a global following, and this development is sure to get fans excited.
Mann is repped by CAA, and the book deal was brokered by The Story Factory.