Michael Mann’s new book Heat 2 is already being turned into a film.
During an interview with Marc Maron on the WTF Podcast (via Playlist) the 79-year-old filmmaker revealed that his upcoming Heat sequel is already underway.
“Yes,” he said when asked whether the film was in the works. “I can’t talk about it, but yes.”
“This is a book, but it’s also going to be a very large movie,” he explained.
Heat 2 has been in the works for some time and will be heading our way in book form this August.
Although described as a sequel, Heat 2 is actually more of a prequel, telling the story of Detective Vincent Hanna (who is played by Al Pacino in the original film) as well as Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro), Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer), and Nate (Jon Voight) long before the events of the first film.
Mann certainly hasn’t been shy about this passion project, previously explaining that he wanted to turn the book into a film. But what does it mean that this process is underway? It’s likely that Mann is currently working on the script. After all, there’s been no official announcement about the project and it’s likely still in the very early stages.
Still, fans of the original film will likely be ecstatic… Even if Robert DeNiro and Val Kilmer won’t be back.
“I love those guys,” he said. “But they’d have to be six years younger than they were in Heat.”
As for who will join the cast, it’s very early days. But it looks as though Mann will be on the lookout for younger versions of Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Val Kilmer, and Jon Voight. A tall order, for sure.
Let’s just hope he doesn’t resort to digitally de-aging anyone. We already know how that went down with DeNiro…
Meanwhile, Mann will next be seen bringing Ferrari to the big screen, with Hugh Jackman joining the upcoming biopic as Enzo Ferrari following Christian Bale’s earlier exit.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.