Heat 2 will commence filming in 2024 - but will Adam Driver star?

Martin Macdonald - 3 February 2024, 12:30 Share

Michael Mann has confirmed plans to start filming his Heat sequel in 2024.

The first Heat movie was released in 1995 and told the story of a cat-and-mouse game between an experienced detective and a resourceful bank robber, played by Al Pacino and Robert De Niro respectively.

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Even before it was released it gained significant attention as it would be the first time that De Niro and Pacino appeared on-screen together. Indeed, one of the most famous scenes in the movie is a conversation between the pair in a diner.

A sequel or prequel has been discussed for a while, and Mann eventually pulled the trigger with a novel, Heat 2.

It is both a sequel and a prequel, as the story features one narrative following the events of the first movie and one narrative before it focusing on younger versions of Neil McCauley and Vincent Hanna.

Mann recently told Variety:

“So I get very respectful, very pleasant calls from Warner Bros. saying, ‘Anything we can do to help?’ Which translates to, ‘Where’s the screenplay?’

“It’s sustained in culture. It’s known,” the acclaimed director continued. “I could delude myself into thinking that the whole world is familiar with it, but when you check out its prominence in home video for over 20 years, this thing really has legs. People are still watching it, people are still talking about it. It’s a brand. It’s kind of a Heat universe, in a way. And that certainly justifies a very large ambitious movie.“

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Heat (1995)

Detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) is obsessed with the thief Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) and tries to catch him, if necessary, at the cost of his private life. As McCauley prepares for the heist of a lifetime, and Hanna's team tries to catch him, both realise they are dealing with the very best in their trade.

Directed by: Michael Mann
Stars: Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer

Will Adam Driver play a young Robert De Niro?

When the novel came out, fans speculated that Adam Driver would make an ideal casting choice for the role of young Neil McCauley, and those rumours only intensified when Driver and Mann worked together on Ferrari.

Mann was asked late last year if Driver had been cast in Heat 2, but he played it coy.

"Perhaps. We don’t talk about that yet," he replied.

"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.”