Heat 2 (Michael Mann Confirms Sequel As His Next Movie)

EXCLUSIVE: Speaking on stage at our Contenders London event over the weekend, Ferrari director Michael Mann confirmed that Heat 2 is set to be his next movie.

When asked whether the novel adaptation would be his next screen epic, the legendary filmmaker told us: “Yes. Meg Gardiner and myself wrote the novel Heat 2, which came out right when we were shooting Ferrari. It did very well. I plan to shoot that next.”

Deadline revealed earlier this year — pre-strikes — that Mann’s Ferrari lead Adam Driver was in talks to play the young Neil McCauley (the character played by Robert DeNiro in the first movie) in Heat 2, which also had Warner Bros in talks to join.

When asked whether he could re-team with Driver on the movie, Mann laughed and told us: “Perhaps. We don’t talk about that yet. Let me put it this way: Adam and I got along like a house on fire [on Ferrari]. We have the same work ethic – which is pretty intense. We like each other and we had a great time working together artistically.”

Heat 2 serves as both a prequel and a sequel to the first film. The story follows McCauley, Chris Shiherlis (originally played by Val Kilmer), and Vincent Hanna (originally Al Pacino) in the years leading up to the LA crime saga, and chronicles what happens to the surviving characters in the years after.

The storyline takes readers back to Chicago in 1988 when McCauley, Shiherlis and their high-line crew are taking scores on the West Coast, the U.S.-Mexico border, and in Chicago. At the same time, Hanna is cutting his teeth as a rising star in the Chicago police department chasing an ultraviolent gang of home invaders.

After its publication in August, Heat 2 became a No. 1 New York Times bestseller.

The original 1995 movie, also made with Warner Bros, was a solid hit that has since become a revered crime classic with a global following.

Mann’s Ferrari, a passion-project two decades in the making, launched at the Venice Film Festival and will get a Christmas Day 2023 theatrical release via Neon in the U.S. Driver stars with Penelope Cruz and Shailene Woodley in the story of Enzo Ferrari’s obsession to win the Mille Miglia, a treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy, and his complicated home life between two women.