The prospect of a sequel to Michael Mann’s classic 1995 crime drama Heat have never been better. With Mann’s novelized sequel Heat 2 out and earning widespread praise for how it expands on the mythos of Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) and Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), alumni from the beloved film have spoken out in favor of bringing the two characters back to screens. Al Pacino remarked during this year’s Tribeca Film Festival that he’d love to see Timothée Chalamet take on the role of a young Hanna while Mann himself already seems to be planning the film adaptation of the book. Now, through an interview with IGN’s Jim Vejvoda posted on Twitter, Val Kilmer has joined the calls for a follow-up from Mann.
Upon being asked which film from his long career he’d like to see revisited in a sequel, Kilmer was confident in his answer. “Heat would be fun,” he told Vejvoda. “I love Michael Mann. We get along great and we have a great deal of trust…” Although it was the only film directed by Mann that Kilmer appeared in, Mann gave plenty of reason to assume the franchise would be in good hands. The film is often praised as a masterpiece with deeply flawed, yet incredibly complex characters at the center. Despite the lack of award recognition, it’s still one of the standard-bearers for crime thrillers everywhere.
Kilmer played Chris Shiherlis in the film, one of McCauley’s men and the lone surviving member after the massive bank shootout which ultimately leads to the takedown of the master thief. He acts as the tritagonist of the film and is revisited in Mann’s follow-up novel after his escape, meaning he’d certainly have a presence on screen again when a Heat sequel eventually comes. It’s ironic then that Vejvoda’s interview with Kilmer also touches on Top Gun: Maverick, another sequel that revisits an iconic action film years later with Kilmer as one of the main characters. Unlike Maverick, though, Kilmer would be unlikely to return on-screen given the much shorter in-universe period of time between Heat and the 2002 events of the novel.
The original film featured Hollywood heavyweights De Niro and Pacino at the height of their powers, pitting them against each other in a cat and mouse game that slowly built up the tension until their eventually meeting in the now-iconic diner scene. As McCauley and Hanna, the two were destined to clash as their dedication to their careers as a thief and a detective respectfully matched one another perfectly. For years, Mann wanted to explore these two deeper, showing just how they ended up where they were in the film.
Mann’s follow-up novel completely expands the scope of the Heat universe, going beyond the confines of Los Angeles to Mexico and Southeast Asia all in an effort to explore those origins and wrap up the events of the original film. With the help of author Meg Gardiner, the book explores the connections that would one day lead McCauley and Hanna together while detailing Shiherlis’s escape to Mexico and subsequent troubles beyond the U.S. border. Turning it into a film seems like a daunting process given the constant back and forth between two different time periods and criminal organizations, but confidence in Mann to bring these characters to life again is at an all-time high.
VAL, cont’d: Most of film work is WAITING!!! Takes a lot of discipline. On the new one, it was just nice to be with Tom and get the chance to connect again!!
— Jim Vejvoda (@JimVejvoda) August 23, 2022