Michael Mann’s "Heat 2" Gets Major Update

Three decades after the original "Heat" took Los Angeles by storm, Michael Mann is bringing "Heat 2" to town thanks to some big tax-incentive cash from California. 

The multi-Oscar-nominated director’s sequel just got supercharged with a $37.2 million tax incentive award from the Golden State.

With the new pumped up tax credit program of $750 million annually, the Heat sequel — now at United Artists after years of development and a bestselling 2022 novel — was joined by 51 other projects announced for the incentive that is estimated to inject $1.4 billion into California’s economy via a combination of spending and wages. 

In total, over four dozen films received $342 million in tax credits.

Among the other feature films allocated tax credits is a new Jumanji entry and the new film from the Oscar-winning "Everything Everywhere All at Once" directing duo "The Daniels" – which had previously been allocated about $20 million. 

With a surge in applications from the equivalent round last year under the then-$330 million program, there’s also a Blumhouse adaptation of the Sunday novel plus the Eva Longoria-directed "The Fifth Wheel" from Netflix, Bill Murray and Kristen Wiig starrer "Epiphany" and "The Incredible Heist of Hallelujah Jones" produced by Taika Waititi and starring Janelle Monáe, to name a few.

The 52 films, from both studios and independents, are expected to see around 8,900 cast and crew hired in total, with 46,400 background performers (measured in days worked) over 1,664 filming days statewide. 

Getting specific, check out the tax incentive allocations each film is conditionally getting, plus the spending and employment reach they are expected to have:

With jobs as it primary criteria, the California Film Commission-administered film and TV incentives program was more than doubled earlier this year with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s proposal to hike the credits to $750 million annually to keep and lure projects to the home of Hollywood. 

As has been the case since the programs dumped its lottery format and increased the allocation to $300 million in 2014, the credits are broken up under various categories, with relocating series a big bragging point.

“The film and television industry is the cornerstone of California’s creative economy – revitalizing the job opportunities, business growth and economic prosperity for families,” Newsom said. “These investments reaffirm that California isn’t just where stories are told, it’s where the future of storytelling is built,” the Democrat added.

Unveiled with several other projects, including the Untitled Mike Mills project that received the top allocation of $39.6 million this round, the hefty 30% allocation earmarked for Heat 2 will allow the United Artists-distributed prequel/sequel to the 1995 crime classic to film a significant portion of the movie in Los Angeles, which is where the original Heat was set and shot. 

With reports that Leonardo DiCaprio is distinctly interested in playing the role of Chris Shiherlis, the character played by the late great Val Kilmer in the original, Heat 2‘s approximate budget is $150 million.

Once at Warner Bros and now with the Amazon-owned UA, the Mann-written and -directed "Heat 2" draws from the era-jumping novel he co-authored with Meg Gardiner and Heat itself. 

The 1995 masterpiece starred not only Kilmer but also featured the first on-screen meet-up between Al Pacino (who played LAPD Detective Vincent Hanna) and Robert De Niro (as master thief Neil McCauley).

Awarded its tax credits under Mann’s Forward Pass, Inc., "Heat 2" is produced by Mann, Jerry Bruckheimer, Scott Stuber, Nick Nesbitt and EPs Shane Salerno and Eric Roth.

Overall, with more than $104.6 million anticipated in qualified expenditures, the state is looking to get a pretty decent return on its "Heat 2" investment. Filming in California for 77 days, Mann’s movie has projected it will hire 40 main cast members, 800 “base crew members” and 1,350 background actors (not a lot of AI there).