Robert De Niro Is Being Replaced In Heat 2 By Adam Driver
Scoot over Robert De Niro, Adam Driver has arrived to take your job in a new sequel/prequel to the classic 1995 crime feature, Heat. Deadline reveals that the original screenplay author and director, Michael Mann, is in talks with Warner Bros. to bring Heat 2 to audiences everywhere with Adam Driver attached to play a younger version of the film’s protagonist, Neil McCauley. A slam dunk at the box office, the original star-studded film currently sits on Rotten Tomatoes with an 88% rating making it long overdue for a follow-up title to move into production.
The timing is almost perfect for Heat 2 to burn up the box office as Mann recently penned his story into novel form. Published in August, it quickly rose through the ranks, being purchased from bookstores everywhere and landing itself bragging rights of becoming a No. 1 New York Times bestseller. With a reinvigorated interest in the action-heavy storyline, it’s definitely time for the studio to strike with a follow-up feature while the iron is hot.
Boasting a killer lineup of some of the biggest names in the entertainment biz, Heat featured the likes of Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Tom Sizemore, Ashley Judd, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Amy Brenneman, and Wes Studi meaning that we could expect a similar, albeit present day knockout cast for Heat 2. In Heat, audiences followed a game of cat and mouse between an LAPD detective (Pacino) and a witty career criminal (De Niro). Not just following the conflict between the two men, the plot also gave a deeper and more personalized look at how the rivalry affected both men’s personal lives.
Heat 2 would serve as a prequel to the original film with two timelines playing out. In one, audiences will travel back to 1988 when McCauley, Chris Shiherlis, and their team of well-practiced criminals are working on the West Coast, Chicago, and the U.S.-Mexico border. This part of the story will also see Detective Vincent Hanna getting his start and gaining traction as a rookie at the Chicago police department, where he’s been tasked with bringing a dangerous group of home invaders to justice.
The other plot of Heat 2 will follow Chris Shiherlis’ attempted escape from the LAPD and Detective Vincent Hanna after an attempted bank robbery takes a nose-dive. Now on the run and trying to lay low while still keeping up with his criminal empire, Shiherlis migrates to try and take over dealings in the tri-border zone and Southeast Asia. Taking audiences on a thrilling time-hop, screenwriters Mann and Meg Gardiner promise that the story will cover what happened before the original film and how things played out for the characters in the years following.
Audiences who are gearing up to see Adam Driver in the biographical feature Ferrari will get a taste of how the 65 actor works alongside Michael Mann as the latter serves as the film’s director. While Heat 2 has been a long time coming for both Mann and his fans, no further castings have been announced at this time, but audiences are hoping for the return of legacy actors like Al Pacino along with younger stars, including Ana de Armas. As of right now, no further information surrounding Heat 2 has been revealed.
