Director Michael Mann is gearing up to shoot the long-awaited Heat 2, the sequel to his 1995 crime epic and now Christian Bale is circling a major role alongside Leonardo DiCaprio.
Amazon MGM and United Artists are set to roll cameras next year and Mann already has the script locked, adapted from the New York Times bestselling novel he wrote with Meg Gardiner.
This new installment is being produced by Mann along with Jerry Bruckheimer, Scott Stuber, Nick Nesbitt and executive producers Shane Salerno and Eric Roth.
Details on who Bale might play remain under wraps, but the script has been attracting serious attention from A-list talent. Mann is clearly aiming for a cast that can match the intensity of the original ensemble led by Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Val Kilmer.
The original 1995 Heat gave us Pacino as Detective Vincent Hanna, De Niro as master thief Neil McCauley and Kilmer as sharpshooter Chris Shiherlis. The movie performed well in theaters but its reputation has grown enormously over the decades, turning it into one of the most beloved crime dramas ever made.
Like the book it’s based on, Heat 2 expands the universe in both directions. Mann and Gardiner’s 2022 novel wasn’t a simple retelling. It explored the lives of the core characters before and after the events of the first film.
The story jumps between timelines following Shiherlis on the run after the bank job while Hanna tracks him across new territories in the tri-border zone and Southeast Asia.
It also flashes back to 1988 Chicago where McCauley, Shiherlis and the crew are taking down big scores along the West Coast, the U.S.-Mexico border and the Windy City as Hanna rises through the CPD pursuing a vicious crew of home invaders.
Fans of Mann’s original should be excited that the sequel sticks closely to the scope and ambition of the book. It dives deeper into the early criminal ventures of McCauley and his crew and also follows Shiherlis’ desperate and dangerous trek across continents as he tries to reunite with his lost love, originally portrayed by Ashley Judd.
Mann has described Heat 2 as a sweeping crime saga moving from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, Chicago and even the jungles of South America. It introduces a far more violent antagonist named Otis Wardell, a murderer and rapist who pushes the stakes even higher.
Bringing a story this massive to the screen has not been an easy process. Mann fought to preserve the full scale of the project during budgeting, which reportedly fluctuated between $135 and $230 million before Warner Bros. exited.
UA hasn’t revealed the current budget but with the film’s scope, locations and the level of talent involved, it’s clear this sequel won’t be a small production.
With Bale now circling a role and DiCaprio already in the mix, Mann seems ready to deliver something big and fans of the original might finally get the follow up they’ve been waiting nearly thirty years for.
Source: Deadline
