”Heat 2” is heating up.
After a year of difficult negotiations, Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio are set to star in Michael Mann’s sequel, which will start shooting in November, four individuals with knowledge of the production told TheWrap.
Bale will play Vincent Hanna, the dogged LAPD Robbery Homicide detective played by Al Pacino in the original film, while DiCaprio will play Chris Shiherlis, who was played by Val Kilmer.
Mann will return to write and direct the sequel, which originated as a novel written by Mann and Meg Gardiner, released in 2022. “Heat 2” serves as both a prequel and a sequel, taking place both before and after the events of Mann’s seminal 1995 film “Heat.”
A spokesperson for Amazon MGM Studios said that no deals have been finalized.
TheWrap has also learned that Adam Driver is being sought for the villain, Wardell, and is deep in negotiations. Stephen Graham is also in talks to play Neil McCauley, the Robert De Niro role from the first film. A number of actresses are vying for the role of Sharlene, originated by Ashley Judd, while other A-list names are circling the project, TheWrap understands.
The original film, released in 1995, was based on “L.A. Takedown,” which Mann wrote and directed as a television pilot for an NBC series. The series was not picked up and the pilot aired as a movie on August 27, 1989. (It’s a fascinating, alternate universe version of “Heat,” with Scott Plank and Alex McArthur as versions of the characters later played by Pacino and Robert De Niro.) The film went on to make $187.4 million on a budget of $60 million and is considered one of the greatest heist films of all time, known for its novelistic complexity and compelling characters.
Shortly before the novel was released, Mann made known his intention of turning it into a film, and DiCaprio, Bale, Driver and Graham have been connected to the project for some time.
Amazon MGM Studios beat out other studios for “Heat 2” when Warner Bros. dropped it over the budget, which reached $200 million at that studio. The budget is now closer to $170 million, according to two insiders. The production is getting nearly $40 million from the California tax incentive.
Jerry Bruckheimer and United Artists’ Scott Stuber and Nick Nesbitt are producing and executive producers are Shane Salerno and Eric Roth, both screenwriters who have worked with Mann for many years. This marks Bruckheimer and Mann’s first collaboration in 45 years, since “Thief,” Mann’s first theatrical feature.
The decision to go with Amazon came from Amazon’s ability to monetize the project long after the theatrical window expires and given the original film’s long tail — it is consistently one of Warner Bros.’ most lucrative rental titles — it made sense.
The ambition of the project, with shooting set to take place across multiple continents, is described as “extraordinary,” according to one insider. This individual described the scale as “‘Spartacus’ with machine guns. ‘John Wick’ times 1,000.” The action sequences in this film are said to dwarf the action sequences from the original film, including the climactic bank robbery/shootout, which is so realistic that it’s used as a training film for law enforcement officers to this day.
When it came to casting the two leads, the challenge was to find two performers who could replicate the epic teaming of Pacino and De Niro from the first film. Finally, the team put DiCaprio and Bale together, arguably the two best actors of their generation, who could stand toe-to-toe with each other. (They have also never co-starred in a movie together, adding additional interest.)
DiCaprio is, of course, one of a very select group of actors who can make hard-R movies that can be very successful around the world. And we’re told that his deal was incredibly complex to make, stretching out over six or seven months. Adding to the complexity of Bale and DiCaprio’s deals was arranging schedules for both them and the other actors being eyed for key roles.
Of course, Mann and DiCaprio have been trying to work together for almost 30 years. The closest they came was “The Aviator,” which Mann was originally meant to direct but decided against after coming off of two back-to-back biopics in “The Insider” and “Ali.” (Martin Scorsese ultimately directed “The Aviator.”) Now, their time has finally come.
The hope for “Heat 2” is that, like Bruckheimer’s “Top Gun: Maverick,” it can be a multi-generational event, with the goodwill from the first film fueling support for the sequel.
It also marks another tentpole for Amazon MGM Studios, which had a huge hit earlier this year with “Project Hail Mary,” which grossed over $680 million worldwide, and is pushing further into theatrical.
This also firms up “Heat 2” as DiCaprio’s next film. After Paul Thomas Anderson’s Oscar-winning “One Battle After Another” for Warner Bros., he shot Martin Scorsese’s ghost story drama “What Happens at Night” for Apple earlier this year.
Bale is coming off “The Bride!” for Warner Bros. and will next be seen in Amazon MGM’s “Madden,” directed by David O. Russell, in which he plays Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis.
Umberto Gonzalez contributed reporting to this story.
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