Fans of Michael Mann‘s cops-and-robbers crime epic Heathave been waiting over 30 years for a sequel, and now it looks like they might have to wait a little longer. While Heat 2 is finally in the works, it looks like its production has been delayed. That’s according to star Stephen Graham, who will play Neil McCauley, the role originated by Robert De Niro, in the film.
Based on the 2022 novel by Mann and Meg Gardiner, Heat 2 serves as both a sequel and a prequel to Heat. Some sections of the novel take place before the events of the 1995 film, with safe cracker McCauley and his crew pulling off scores in Chicago, where their future nemesis, Detective Vincent Hanna, remains one step behind them. Chicago is also where they first meet the sociopathic criminal Otis Wardell, who will haunt all parties for years to come. Other sections of the novel take place after the film, where Wardell comes into the characters’ lives once more.
While appearing on The Today Show to promote his new Apple TV series Nocturne, in which he plays an imprisoned serial killer, Adolescencestar Graham also discussed his upcoming projects, including a sequel to the WWII naval thriller Greyhoundand the much-anticipated Heat 2. Mann originally planned to shoot the film in August, which was then delayed to November. Now, it seems as if it will be even later: According to Graham, he’s planning to begin the shoot in January. The movie has already had a troubled production history, as Warner Bros. balked at the proposed budget, allowing the project to be picked up by Amazon MGM Studios, instead.
Collider Exclusive · Villain Personality Quiz Which Criminal Mastermind Would Be Your Nemesis? Lecter · Joker · Moriarty · Chigurh
Four of the finest criminal minds ever put on screen. One of them would look at you and see something worth their time. Eight questions decide which one comes for you, why they picked you, and what they would want when they arrived.
🍷Lecter
🃏Joker
♟️Moriarty
🪙Chigurh
01
What would a criminal mastermind notice about you first? Great villains choose their opponents carefully. Something about you got their attention.
02
How do they make first contact? The introduction tells you everything about what is coming next.
03
What do you actually believe about right and wrong? Every nemesis is really an argument about the thing you believe most.
04
What finally gets under your skin? Everybody has a pressure point. Finding yours is the whole plan.
05
They have made their move. How do you fight back? This is the part of the film where the audience finds out who you are.
06
What would they use against you? A good villain never brings a weapon you have not already handed them.
07
What do they actually want from you? The money is never the point. Something else always is.
08
How does it end between the two of you? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides who comes for you.
The Case File Is Complete Your Nemesis Is…
Four criminal masterminds. One of them was always going to be yours.
Here is who comes for you, why they picked you out of everyone available, and what they want from
the encounter.
The Silence of the Lambs · Hannibal · 1991–2002
Hannibal Lecter
Your nemesis does not want to beat you. He wants to know you
completely, and he is patient enough to wait for it. The frightening part is how good the
conversation is.
Lecter is the most dangerous kind of opponent: the one who finds you interesting. He
never raises his voice, because he has never needed to.
You keep a great deal to yourself and you are careful about what you show. That reserve
is exactly the door he would knock on.
The films understood something other thrillers missed. The horror is not the violence.
It is being perfectly understood by the wrong person.
He would be unfailingly polite about all of it. That is the worst part.
Batman · The Dark Knight · 1989–2019
The Joker
Your nemesis is not after money, territory or revenge. He is
after a demonstration, and you are the person he has chosen to prove his point on.
The Joker only picks opponents who believe in something. Your decency is not a defence
against him. It is the entire reason he showed up.
He has no plan you can predict and nothing you can take away, which removes every tool
you would normally reach for.
His whole argument is that you are one bad day away from being him, and you would spend
the rest of your life proving him wrong.
He would call it a magic trick. You would call it the worst night of your life.
Sherlock Holmes · The Final Problem · Since 1893
Moriarty
Your nemesis respects you, which sounds flattering until you work
out what it means. He chose you because nobody else was worth his time.
Moriarty is the original criminal mastermind, the template every later one borrows from:
a mind the equal of the hero’s, pointed the wrong way.
You enjoy being the cleverest person in the room. He is counting on exactly that, and he
has already built the room.
This is the rare nemesis who would be genuinely disappointed if you lost badly. He needs
the game to be worth playing.
It ends the way these things always end. Two people, one problem, and only one way down.
No Country for Old Men · 2007
Anton Chigurh
Your nemesis has no personal interest in you whatsoever, and that
is precisely what makes him unsurvivable. You are not a rival. You are a stop on the way.
Chigurh does not negotiate, gloat or explain. He arrives, he asks one question, and the
answer was decided long before you opened your mouth.
You trust yourself to handle things. He is the one problem in the world that has no
interest in how capable you are.
No Country for Old Men rewrote the screen villain by removing the thing audiences
quietly rely on: the sense that talking might work.
Call it. He will wait.
Who Else Stars in ‘Heat 2’?
Appropriately, Heat 2 is one of the hottest projects in Hollywood, attracting top-flight talent. Christian Bale will play Hanna, who was originally played by Al Pacino. Chris Shiherlis, McCauley’s right-hand man and the only survivor of his crew, will be played by Leonardo DiCaprio, taking over from the late Val Kilmer. Technical expert Kelso, who was played by the late Tom Noonan, will be portrayed by Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Chris’ wife Charlene, who was played by Ashley Judd, will be portrayed by Odessa Young. New characters Otis Wardell and Gabriela will be played by Adam Driver and Maria Cid, respectively.
Heat 2 is in development; no release date has yet been announced. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
