Two years ago, filmmaker Michael Mann revisited the world of his 1995 movie Heat through the novel Heat 2, a simultaneous prequel and sequel that he wrote with Meg Gardiner. But even before the book’s release, Mann expressed interested in adapting it into a movie, and in April 2023, it was officially confirmed that a Heat 2 film adaptation was in the works. While there’s not much specifically we know about Heat 2 currently, Mann recently provided an update on the project and shared how the action TV show Starsky & Hutch is connected to it.
While attending a 25th anniversary screening of his movie The Insider, Mann informed Collider’s Steve Weintraub that he’s close to finishing the Heat 2 screenplay. At the time the conversation took place, the writer/director had woken up in the middle of the night before because he was thinking about the script. He ended up driving through Los Angeles at 3:00 in the morning and arrived at Canter's Delicatessen, the popular restaurant that he’s previously sat in while writing other projects of his, including episodes of Starsky & Hutch. In Mann’s words:
Then I sat in a booth and wrote there until about 9:00 this morning, trying to finish act four. It was ironic because it's the same booth I sat in when I wrote the first couple episodes of Starsky & Hutch back in the 1970s. Then The Jericho Mile and probably some early drafts of Heat. I had a favorite waitress named Jeannie who put two sons through medical school waitressing there and playing poker in Gardena. [Laughs] So, sometimes you're driving through the streets of LA at night, and a coyote runs across it.
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Michael Mann wrote four episodes of Starsky & Hutch between 1975 and 1977, just a few years before he made the aforementioned TV movie The Jericho Mile and then started delivering feature films like Thief and Manhunter. So it’s interesting to hear not only how far back Mann’s history with this restaurant goes, but that he ended up sitting in the same booth to put the finishing touches on Heat 2’s fourth act that he did writing those episodes for the TV show starring David Soul and Paul Michael Glaser. It’s funny how life works out sometimes.
When the Heat 2 was confirmed to be in development, it was reported that Adam Driver was being eyed to play Neil McCauley, who was played by Robert De Niro in Heat. Since then, the only other casting possibility that’s popped up is Austin Butler, who’s rumored to be succeeding Val Kilmer in playing Chris Shiherlis. Since Michael Mann is finishing the Heat 2 script, hopefully that means that filming can get underway in 2025. From there, it’s easy to envision the movie being released sometime in theaters in 2026.
While we wait for more updates on how Heat 2 is coming along, feel free to use your Paramount+ subscription to stream its predecessor. Michael Mann’s most recent movie, Ferrari, can be accessed with a Hulu subscription.