'Heat 2' Is Picking Up Steam With Leo Circling A Main Role
Heat 2, the high-profile Michael Mann follow-up to his 1995 crime drama classic, is getting a new home, ensuring that the ambitious and buzzy feature project will be getting made after all.
United Artists, the Amazon MGM Studios division, is in talks to pick up the project from Warner Bros. after the latter let the movie be shopped in August when it was unable to agree with Mann on a budget. Hollywood vets Jerry Bruckheimer, known for high-octane action thrillers and the Top Gun movies, and Scott Stuber, who previously ran film for Netflix and is tied to UA, have boarded the project as producers. Mann and Stuber’s partner Nick Nesbitt are also producing.
The crime thriller is coming with plenty of, um, Hollywood heat, as a bevy of A-listers have been mentioned in connection with the project. With Leonardo DiCaprio circling, other actors whose names have surfaced include Austin Butler, Adam Driver and Bradley Cooper. However, no offers have been made to that talent, let alone any actor deals signed.
This saga has been going on for about 4 years now and it seems like we're finally reaching a level of certainty with the production.
As a huge fan of the original, I'm a little conflicted for a few reasons:
1. Michael Mann may have lost his fastball. He is one of my favorite directors but, If I'm being honest and critical, he has not made a movie up to his standard in 20 years. Since 'Collateral' in 2004, he has 'Miami Vice', 'Public Enemies', 'Blackhat' and 'Ferrari'. The last thing I want is a 'Gladiator 2' situation.
2. On the plus side, the names circling this cast are incredible. The one casting I've seen floated around is Leo as Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer) which I think would be a home run.
The biggest question for reboot/remake/late sequel is always the same: Is the script really there, or do you just want money? In this case, Mann wrote a book which he would be adapting.
Acting as both a prequel and a sequel, the sprawling Heat 2 story is set in several timelines. One follows a younger McCauley and his crew pulling off daring heists and living the high life. Another tells of what happened to Shihirlis, the lovelorn thief played by Kilmer in the 1995 movie, in the aftermath of the first movie’s climactic robbery, and his multiyear quest to reunite with his former girlfriend (who was played by Judd in the original). One part of the book is set in a lawless South American drug zone. And there is also an overarching bad guy more brutal than anything seen in the first movie, a murderer and rapist named Otis Wardell.
I'll get to reading this and see how I feel after.