Michael Mann still wants to make Heat 2, the sequel to his 1995 classic, Heat. Last year, Mann published the novel Heat 2, which serves as a prequel and sequel to the events in Heat. While speaking with Variety, Mann was asked about morality and if he fears he is running out of time to make Heat 2.
“The thing is, I don’t think about mortality. I’m busy,” Mann said. “What good would it do me? If I absolutely had to make Heat 2, I wouldn’t have got lost in this beautiful story of Ferrari. And I took two years to write a novel.”
“Fortunately, it became a New York Times No. 1 bestseller,” Mann added. “The things I’m into are things that fascinate me and keep me moving forward.”
But don’t be confused by Mann’s drawn-out response. The 80-year-old is still interested in adapting his novel for the big screen.
“Don’t misunderstand. I want to make it,” Mann added. “But if I don’t, I won’t be incomplete.”
Heat 2 begins one day after the film ends, with Chris Shiherlis trying to escape Los Angeles while LAPD detective Vincent Hanna hunts him down. The novel then travels back to 1988 and explores the parallel lives of Hanna and Neil McCauley in Chicago. Heat 2 explores the rise of Hanna and McCauley in the late 1980s with the aftermath of their showdown in 1995.
Written and directed by Mann, Heat starred Robert De Niro as McCauley and Al Pacino as Hanna. The film marked the duo’s first on-screen appearance together. The ensemble included Val Kilmer as Chris Shiherlis, Jon Voight as Nate, Tom Sizemore as Michael Cheritto, Amy Brenneman as Eady, and Ashley Judd as Charlene Shirherlis.
Mann confirmed to Variety that Adam Driver had been in talks to play the younger version of De Niro’s McCauley before the strike. Driver is set to star as Enzo Ferrari in Mann’s Ferrari, which will have its world premiere on August 31 at the Venice Film Festival. Ferrari is then scheduled to be released in theaters on December 25.