The casting process for Michael Mann’s “Heat 2” is truly underway. This film is turning into a beast of its own making.
We already know Al Pacino is in final talks to reprise his role as Vincent Hanna from the original. There’s also Austin Butler, rumored to play a younger version of Val Kilmer’s character.
Now I’m hearing Adam Driver is being eyed as well to play a younger Vincent Hanna via flashbacks. I’m told Mann is insistent in having, his “Ferrari” star, Driver be a part of this movie.
Driver just wrapped Coppola’s “Megalopolis” and did mention last week that he was going to take a small acting break.
I’m gonna take some time off just to be home for a while. I finished my part of Megalopolis this morning, at four o’clock in the morning in Atlanta. So, I’m not operating on full capacity. I don’t have a set plan. But I’m gonna take some time. I’m sick of myself and I know other people are.
There is no production date scheduled for “Heat 2,” for now. I would guess things won’t get rolling until after Mann premieres “Ferrari” at Venice and screens it at other festivals in the fall. Then we’ll start hearing more about this one.
Last summer I reported that there was a bidding war for “Heat 2.” It’s quite clear that this is a hot property that execs want to get their hands on. “Heat” has amassed a large fanbase over the years and now we’re witnessing the extent of it.
Now, with a potential cast that could include Butler, Driver and Pacino, anticipation has just gotten higher.
The upcoming sequel is said to based on Mann’s recently published novel, which is a continuation of the “Heat” saga. The setting takes place both before and after the original, in the same vein as in The Godfather Part II, largely focusing on Hanna and Chris Shiherlis (the character played in the film by Val Kilmer).