"Heat 2" Gets Major Update

Michael Mann’s “Heat 2,” the long-awaited sequel to his 1995 crime drama starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, is finally moving forward with a major change.

Amazon MGM-owned United Artists and producer Scott Stuber are in final negotiations to secure the rights to “Heat 2.”

The project was initially set up at Warner Bros., but the studio let the filmmakers shop around the film after disagreeing on the budget. Amazon MGM is planning to release “Heat 2” in theaters.

No cast deals are in place at this time. Plot details for the follow-up haven’t been revealed either, though Mann adapted the screenplay from the 2022 novel of the same name that he co-wrote with Meg Gardiner.

Producers will include Mann, Jerry Bruckheimer, and UA’s Stuber and Nick Nesbitt. Eric Roth and Shane Salerno will serve as executive producers.

“Heat,” which celebrates its 30th anniversary in December, follows an explosive face-off between a Los Angeles Police Department detective and a career thief.

The film was a box office hit, earning $187 million globally (not adjusted for inflation) against a $60 million budget.

Mann, best known for thrillers such as “Thief,” “Collateral,” and “The Insider,” recently referred to “Heat” as “one of the best experiences ever as a director.”

“The motivation for ‘Heat’ was a challenge, and the challenge was to tell authentic stories about people who have been as complex as we all are in life,” Mann said in September at the Busan International Film Festival.

Of the sequel, he teased, “I look forward to possibly shooting it in 2026. We’re in the middle of doing all the things — budgeting, scheduling, casting process.”