Heat is regarded by many as being one of the greatest crime films ever, but while its all-star cast (e.g., Al Pacino and Robert De Niro) and shootout sequences seem impossible to beat, Michael Mann appears to be willing to give it a serious shot. Sources with Deadline have learned that Mann and Warner Bros. are working to bring Heat 2 to the big screen, the story of which is already available in the form of a novel that was released last year, co-written by Edgar Award-winning author Meg Gardiner. Adam Driver, who Star Wars fans might recognize as Kylo Ren, is in discussions to play a young version of De Niro’s character, Neil McCauley, who dies at the end of the 1995 original.
From a Deadline report:
Sources say WB is in negotiations to fund the development of the project, and that as of now no partner is involved. Arnon Milchan’s New Regency co-financed the first film and insiders add if and when the project is in a good place to move forward, they would be given an opportunity to co-finance. As of now, Mann is the guiding force moving this project forward and things are headed in the right direction for it to find a home.
Heat 2 was penned by Mann and Meg Gardiner and is not a novelization of Mann’s film, rather it tells the story of everything that happens before and after to the principal characters. 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.