Michael Mann’s 1995 crime drama Heat has been considered one of his greatest cinematic achievements. In 2022, he followed up the film with a novel titled Heat 2. Soon after, plans for a feature film adaptation were announced, though it looks like Heat 2 is now facing pushback from Warner Bros.
This is unfortunate news as there seemed to be some promising developments regarding Heat 2 in recent years. According to insider Matt Belloni, however, things have been slowing down due to the high budget Mann is asking for. The original film was made for $60 million, and now for its sequel Mann is said to have asked for more than $200 million before bringing his price down to $170 million.
Of course, $170 million is still an incredibly high figure, and that’s what has Warner Bros. co-CEOs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy in a bind. While the situation is complicated, especially because they’d love to greenlight Heat 2, there could be a few possibilities that ensure the sequel happens.
For starters, as further shared by Belloni via Puck, it looks like Warner Bros. is interested in partnering with Apple to fund the movie. This is certainly one positive development, though what would absolutely increase the likelihood of Heat 2 finally hitting the big screen would be the involvement of one major A-list star.
According to the publication, Mann has had “conversations” with Leonardo DiCaprio, and if DiCaprio were to get involved, it would almost certainly get Heat 2 the greenlight. It’s still unclear who DiCaprio would play in the film, though a young version of McCauley is one of the most suspected parts. Either way, it would be exciting to see Mann and DiCaprio collaborate on the project, and it’s easy to see why that could be an instrumental factor in getting the movie funded.
It’s worth noting that Mann’s novel Heat 2 is both a prequel and sequel to his original hit. This makes for a rather ambitious storyline, one that will have to balance narratives in both the past and future, but Mann is certainly up for the challenge – especially if he can get his desired budget and stars attached.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for any additional updates regarding Heat 2 and the potential involvement of Apple or Leonardo DiCaprio as we have them. Whatever happens with the film project, at least fans will still have the excellent novel to see the full picture.