
Though news has been slow enough to assume Michael Mann’s Heat 2 might not move forward, today brings the major update that the sequel––based on the 2022 novel the director co-authored with Meg Gardiner––has been acquired by Amazon MGM Studios vis-à-vis United Artists, following budget disputes with Warner Bros., with Jerry Bruckheimer and Scott Stuber aboard as producers. The Hollywood Reporter claims the film was brought to Warner Bros. with a proposed $230 million budget that fluctuated for some time: $170 million here, $135 million there, even a suggested $150 million on the condition Mann agreed to make (and I hope you’re holding onto your hat before reading these words) Heat 3.
On the basis of its source novel, the prequel-sequel could span Chicago, Los Angeles, Mexico, and southeast Asia at a minimum, while the film seeks a cast to surpass its predecessor: Leonardo DiCaprio, Adam Driver, Austin Butler, and Bradley Cooper have all been rumored for involvement, while we heard (two years ago, mind) that Jeremy Allen White and Channing Tatum were lobbying for roles. Per a source, “Everyone you can think of has met on this.” Deadline claims DiCaprio would fill Val Kilmer’s shoes as the wounded Chris Shiherlis, whose role in the novel is uncannily like Chris Hemsworth’s in Blackhat, while old rumors state Adam Driver could take on Robert De Niro’s Neil McCauley. The whole novel is all very cosmic and Godfather II-like, and on the basis of Mann and Gardiner’s wildly entertaining project––overburdened, overplotted, heavy-handed, ridiculous, in short: Heat––it has solid basis for something genuinely gonzo.
No word yet when the film begins production, though with this acquisition one might anticipate cameras rolling in the first half of 2026, by which point it’ll rank inestimably high on lists of our most-anticipated films.
The post Michael Mann’s Heat 2 Acquired By Amazon MGM; Leonardo DiCaprio, Adam Driver Among Rumored Cast first appeared on The Film Stage.