‘Heat’ Sequel in the Works, Confirms Michael Mann
Legendary director Michael Mann (The Last of the Mohicans, Miami Vice) is getting ready to release his first-ever novel, a 500-page continuation of his 1995 modern classic, written in Godfather Part II style, with two different timelines, one as a prequel and one as a sequel.
Speaking to Marc Maron on the WTF podcast (via The Playlist), Mann revealed that even though he decided to write the novel, that has not killed the chances for a sequel. In fact, the project is very much alive:
MANN: “This is a book, but it’s also going to be a very large movie.”
MARON: “It’s going to be a movie?”
MANN: “Oh yeah.”
Maron then added that he’d thought that the book was a replacement for the movie, to which Mann replied “No.” Of course, making a sequel to Heat carries a whole set of problems (spoiler alert) — Robert DeNiro’s character is dead, Al Pacino is now 82, and Val Kilmer is retired from acting due to his throat cancer. Kilmer had a brief (but impactful) scene in Top Gun: Maverick, but even that required a lot of effort from the actor. When asked about how you can make a sequel with these conditions, Mann simply replied: “In very large ways.”
As mentioned before, the book also acts as a prequel to the events of the first movie. Mann explained how he wanted to explore the early lives of his characters:
“I always wanted to explore the early lives of these guys. Also, to find a way to bring the past into the present and the present being about 2002, seven years after the events of ‘Heat’ the movie.”
If the sequel does move forward, it will be very interesting to see who gets cast, both in the younger versions of the characters, and the older ones. Even if we ignored Kilmer’s health problems, Pacino does not look like he only aged 7 years from the time Heat was shot, so it’s very unlikely any of the original trio will return.
Michael Mann is currently getting ready to start shooting his next movie, Ferrari, starring Adam Driver and Shailene Woodley. He recently directed the pilot for the HBO Max series Tokyo Vice, his first directorial effort since 2015’s Blackhat. Heat 2: A Novel will come out on August 9, 2022.
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
