Michael Mann Talks HEAT 2 Casting and Says "It's Going to Be a Combination of CG and Makeup"
While director Michael Mann is making the press round for his latest feature film, Ferrari, members of the press keep asking him about his next film project, which is Heat 2. In this recent update on the film, Mann talks about the casting, bringing the characters back to life, and where he’s at in the development process. He told The Playlist:
"It's going to be a combination [of CG and makeup]. And so, it won't be [Robert De Niro] and Al [Pacino] playing McCauley and Hanna. And it actually starts eight years earlier than the movie. It starts in 1988, and then it's gonna jump to 2000. But I don't really know who to cast until I've actually written the screenplay, but I'm in the middle of writing the screenplay right now. And Warner Bros. have been very patient."
Mann is then asked if the follow-up could be a TV series, and he responded: "Sure, but I'm not interested in doing it as a long form. I'm only interested in doing it as a movie, same scale as the 1995 film."
The sequel will tell the story of what led up to the events in the first film, which is set in 1989, and what happened after, which is set in 2002. It covers “the formative years of homicide detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) and elite criminals Neil McCauley (De Niro), Chris Shiherlis (Kilmer), and Nate (Jon Voight), and features the same extraordinary ambition, scope, rich characterizations, and attention to detail as the epic film."
This new story "leads up to the events of the film and then moves beyond it, featuring new characters on both sides of the law, new high-line heists, and breathtakingly cinematic action sequences. Ranging from the streets of L.A. to the inner sancta of rival Taiwanese crime syndicates in Paraguay to a massive drug cartel money-laundering operation just over the border in Mexico, Heat 2 illuminates the dangerous workings of international crime organizations and the agents who pursue them as it provides a full-blooded portrait of the men and women who inhabit both worlds. Operatic in scope, Heat 2 is engrossing, moving, and tragic—a masterpiece of crime fiction from one of the most innovative and influential filmmakers in American cinema.”
It’s explained that the book jumps between two time periods, “the first following Chris Shiherlis as he tries to evade the LAPD and Detective Vincent Hanna following the bank robbery gone bad and moves forward into new territory in the tri-border zone and Southeast Asia. The second storyline takes readers back to Chicago in 1988 when McCauley, Shiherlis and their high-line crew are taking scores on the West Coast, the U.S.-Mexico border, and in Chicago. At the same time, Hanna is cutting his teeth as a rising star in the Chicago police department chasing an ultraviolent gang of home invaders. The fallout from McCauley’s scores and Hanna’s pursuit cause unexpected repercussions in a parallel narrative.”
Earlier this year, it was reported that Ferrari lead Adam Driver was in talks to play the young Neil McCauley, Robert DeNiro’s character, in the film, but that has not been confirmed.