Michael Mann wants to turn his ‘Heat’ sequel novel into a movie

Good news for fans of atmospheric and stylish action movies! But maybe not as great news for the same folks hoping for a Michael Mann-directed binge-worthy new series. Although the director is returning to the source of what many consider his greatest film, Heat, Mann says the new prequel/sequel based on a novel coming out this year will definitely be a movie and not a streaming series.

Mann announced his plans last year to novelize a story that would follow events taking place before and after his hit 1995 crime drama, and later confirmed that he was considering dramatizing the story as well. He later stated that the novel will focus on the early life of Vincent Hanna, played by Al Pacino in the original, as well as events following the movie’s finale, including the escape of Val Kilmer’s character, Chris Shiherlis.

Mann, who achieved superstardom due to his seminal 1980s series Miami Vice, recently returned to television by directing the first episode of HBO Max’s Tokyo Vice, leading some to speculate that his Heat follow-up may hit TV screens rather than theater screens. Mann now states that isn’t the case and fans can expect a theatrically-released movie, albeit one that is epic in size.

“It’s totally planned to be a movie,” Mann told Empire. “Is it a modest movie? No. Is it a very expensive series? No. It’s going to be one large movie.” Mann also dropped a few other tantalizing details, including the fact that neither Val Kilmer nor Robert De Niro, who played criminal mastermind Neil McCauley in the original, would be reprising their roles. “I love those guys, but they’d have to be six years younger than they were in Heat.”

Mann remains optimistic that the future film would succeed on name recognition alone. “People are still watching it, people are still talking about it,” he told Empire. “It’s a brand. It’s kind of a Heat universe, in a way. And that certainly justifies a very large ambitious movie.”