Michael Mann confirms ‘Heat 2’ as his next; hints at re-teaming with Adam Driver

Michael Mann attends the “Ferrari” premiere during the 67th BFI London Film Festival at The Royal Festival Hall on October 08, 2023, in London, England.
| Photo Credit: JOHN PHILLIPS

Filmmaker Michael Mann has confirmed that his next directorial project is Heat 2, the sequel (and prequel) to his 1995 film and an adaptation of the 2022 novel ‘Heat 2’ which he co-wrote with Meg Gardiner. The director also hinted at the possibility of re-teaming with his Ferrari star Adam Driver for the upcoming movie.

“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 quoted Mann who spoke at the Contenders London event.

There have been reports that Driver was in talks to play a younger version of Neil McCauley (the character played by Robert De Niro in the 1995 film). Though Mann didn’t confirm the same, he did hint at the possibility of it. “Perhaps. We don’t talk about that yet. Let me put it this way: Adam and I got along like a house on fire. We have the same work ethic —  which is pretty intense. We like each other, and we had a great time working together artistically,” he said.

Heat 2, both a prequel and a sequel, follows the characters McCauley, Chris Shiherlis, and Vincent Hanna before the events of the first film — when McCauley and Shiherlis were “taking scores on the West Coast, the U.S.-Mexico border and in Chicago,” as reported by Deadline, and Hanna was rising in the ranks at the Chicago Police Department. The sequel will also tell what happened to the surviving characters post the heist. Val Kilmer played Shiherlis in the first film, while Al Pacino famously portrayed Hanna.

Meanwhile, Mann and Driver’s Ferrari premiered at the Venice Film Festival and ended up getting a six-minute-standing ovation. Starring Driver as Enzo Ferrari, the film’s cast includes Penélope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Sarah Gadon, Gabriel Leone, Jack O’Connell and Patrick Dempsey.

Based on the biography Enzo Ferrari: The Man and the Machine by Brock Yates, Mann’s Ferrari was screened on October 8 as the Surprise Film at the 67th BFI London Film Festival. The film is slated to release in theatres worldwide on December 25.

Watch the film’s trailer here…