‘Heat’ Sequel Eyes Adam Driver as Young Neil McCauley; Will Be Michael Mann’s Next Film
Michael Mann announced last year that a sequel to his 1995 critical hit Heat was in the works, right as he was promoting the sequel book, Heat 2: A Novel.
The project is getting some momentum now, after rumors swirled over the past few weeks about Austin Butler, Ana de Armas, and Adam Driver circling the project. We don’t know about the first two names just yet, but Deadline is confirming that the director is in talks with Driver to star in the film as young Neil McCauley, Robert De Niro’s character in the original.
This is still very early in the process, and a lot of details must be ironed out. For starters, Warner Bros. is still in talks to finance the project, and no partner is currently involved. Arnon Milchan’s New Regency, which co-financed the original, has the option to sign up as well once the project is packaged. Mann is the driving force at the moment.
Moreover, the story of the book, which the film could be adapting, is written in the style of The Godfather: Part II, where a storyline goes back in time to explore the early days of the characters (that’s where Adam Driver comes in; an interesting twist, as in The Godfather: Part II it was Robert De Niro playing the lead of the flashbacks), and another storyline is set seven years after the events of the film. Complications arise there, as Al Pacino is 28 years older than he was in 1995, and Val Kilmer, who also had a pivotal role in the original, is retired from acting due to his battle against throat cancer. (His cameo in Top Gun: Maverick was his own doing, after he pressed Tom Cruise to include him.)
Driver and Mann worked together in the upcoming film Ferrari, which could hit the screens this year as soon as it finds a distributor.
More details about Heat 2 could come out within the next few weeks, so stay tuned.
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.
