Michael Mann has said he hopes to begin shooting Heat 2 in 2026.
Speaking at the Busan International Film Festival, Mann explained Heat 2 is currently in pre-production, with plans to begin filming fairly soon.
“I look forward to possibly shooting it in 2026,” said Mann.
“We’re in the middle of doing all the things one does: budgeting, scheduling, casting, all of that. We’re right in the middle of the process.”
Mann took part in a 90-minute Master Class session dubbed Michael Mann Revisits Heat on September 19th.
“I wanted to come to Korea, so we put everything on hold and came to Korea for five days to see all of you,” he told the audience.
Mann has already paved the way for Heat 2, and there’s no big mystery as to what story it will likely tell.
The director co-authored a Heat 2 novel with thriller writer Meg Gardiner, which was published in 2022.
It acts as both a sequel and prequel to the original story, with timelines set across 1988 through to 2000 and beyond.
This won’t be the simplest of stories to translate to film, with “sprawling” one of the recurring descriptors in write-ups of the novel. It’s not as if the first Heat film was not a heavyweight in its own right, clocking in at just under three hours.
In March 2025, Mann said he had submitted a draft screenplay for Heat 2 to Warner Bros.. "I just finished the screenplay and handed in the first draft,” he told Vulture.
Adam Driver and Austin Butler are rumoured to be taking on the roles originally played by Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer.
Mann previously worked with Adam Driver on his last picture, 2023’s Ferrari. Driver played Enzo Ferrari, complete with a fairly ripe Italian accent.
Want to check out the original one more time? 1995's Heat is currently available to watch on both the Disney+ movies and Netflix movies libraries.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
