The heat is on. Following months of hearing Michael Mann chat about how he’s desperate to get Heat 2 off the ground, the movie sounds like it’s finally cooking.
Heat 2 is close to scoring a deal with Amazon MGM’s United Artists, having initially stalled over at Warner Bros.
The Hollywood reporter writes the project is "in talks” with the studio to enter production, after the original plans at Warner Bros. stumbled when Mann and the studio could not agree on a production budget.
Mann is unlikely to be asking for pennies. We already have a good idea of plans for the film, as Man produced the Heat follow-up in novel form with author Meg Gardiner in 2022.
It’s a 480-page tome in its paperback form, and is a sprawling tale set across multiple timelines, acting as both a prequel tale to the events of the film and a sequel.
It’s signalled right there on the book cover, with references to the key 1988 and year 2000 settings.
- Want to watch the original Heat now? It's among the best Amazon Prime Video movies currently streaming
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Mann managed to squeeze his original plans down to $170 million from an initial $230 million, but Warner Bros. wasn’t willing to stretch that far.
The original Heat made $187 million in cinemas back in 1995 before even accounting for inflation. However, a big Hollywood movie typically needs to double its production budget before seeing profits — according to Hollywood accounting anyway — thanks to all the money marketing sucks up.
Michael Mann’s last movie was Ferrari, made with a $95 million budget. But despite costing significantly less than the preposed Heat 2 and earning some fairly solid reviews, it didn’t get close to earning a profit.
Early casting rumours suggest Austin Butler and previous Mann collaborator Adam Driver may take on key roles. But latest rumblings suggest Leonardo DiCaprio will star in Heat 2.
He will reportedly take on the role originally played by Val Kilmer in the original Heat, Chris Shiherlis. While DiCaprio has not starred in a Michael Mann film before, it will just be another of the great directors ticked off for the actor, who most recently starred in the brilliant One Battle After Another, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.
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