Heat 2 gets the greenlight from Warner Bros. Here’s what we know.
Film noir feels like a genre that never went out of style, even though it did. Even after the last true film noir graced the big screen, the influences of the genre evolved into something new and exciting that comes from the self-aware child of film noir: neo-noir.
While it is often harder to pinpoint what makes a neo-noir film, we often refer back to the classics that defined the look and feel of this subgenre. Films like Blade Runner, Chinatown, Oldboy, L.A. Confidential, and Se7en are classics of the genre, we would have to say that Michael Mann’s Heat left its mark on everyone and everything.
We think about Heat a lot and its influence on great filmmakers like Christopher Nolan. It’s a crime classic from Warner Bros. that never did anything more with the film that seemingly existed for itself.
Three decades and a dozen of rumors later, Deadline reports that Warner Bros. and Mann are meeting to negotiate to develop a sequel to the 1995 classic that Mann has turned into a No. 1 New York Times bestselling novel.
So, what will Heat 2 be about? Who is in talks to portray a young Neil McCauley in the film?
Let’s get into it.
What We Know About Heat 2
Heat 2: A Novel was penned by Mann and Meg Gardiner, and is not a novelization of Mann’s film.
Instead, the novel tells the story of everything that happens before and after the events of Heat. The book jumps between two time periods, with Chris Shiherlis trying to evade the LAPD and Detective Vincent Hanna following the bank robbery gone bad and moving into the tri-border zone and Southeast Asia.
The second storyline takes readers back to Chicago in 1988 where McCauley, Shiherlis, and their crew are scoring big on the West Coast, the U.S.-Mexico border, and in Chicago. The fallout between McCauley’s scores and Hanna’s pursuits sets them up for the narrative in Heat.
The novel became one of the year’s biggest publications after it was released in August 2022.
Mann hinted that he wanted to adapt the novel into a theatrical movie since the novel. It looks like Mann is ready to make this dream a reality as he takes some time away from post-production on his latest film, Ferrari.
While no partners are currently attached to the project, Deadline speculates that there is a high chance that Aron MIlchan’s New Regency, the company that co-financed the first film, will have a chance to co-finance if the project moves forward.
Who Will Star in Heat 2?
The film is still early in development, but that has never stopped the rumor wheel from turning.
While some people want to see Al Pacino return to the world of Heat and included femme fatale Ana de Armas as McCauley’s love interest in the 1988 timeline, only one name is firmly attached to the project: Adam Driver.
It’s unclear what Mann’s plans are with the film. Whether he creates one film with two timelines or two films that tackle each timeline, I am simply excited to see the intimate world that Mann created just over 25 years ago.
Let us know what you think about Heat 2 in the comments below!
