Filmmaker Michael Mann has been all over the place this week. Production has begun on his long-gestating star-packed “Ferrari” biopic in Italy, whilst a novel sequel to his 1995 crime drama masterpiece “Heat” has topped the best-seller list.
The 466-page book, co-written with Meg Gardiner, adopts a kind of “The Godfather Part II” structure – cutting back and forth between two time periods – six years prior to the film in 1989, and the hours and ultimately years after the events of the film.
In the earlier period, professional thief Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) and LAPD detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) unknowingly crossed paths in a previous major heist. The latter mostly focuses on Val Kilmer’s Chris Shiherlis as Hanna is determined to capture or kill him.
Though no official greenlight has been given, it’s rumored that Mann plans to adapt the new book into a sequel film. Speaking with Total Film (via Games Radar), Mann says he has no plans to adapt the story as a series as he’s keen on doing the project as a theatrical experience:
“There’s fantastic work in television, and for whatever reason, it has a short half-life. [Producer] Dino De Laurentiis, one time, said to me about television, ‘Michael, there’s a small screen, and there’s the big screen.’ That said it all, you know?
I’m not putting down television. It really is [a golden age]. But the big, cinematic experience – there’s nothing like it. When we had a screening of ‘Heat’ at the Academy, probably 80% of the audience had never seen it on the big screen, and the reaction was astonishing.
I had the whole cast there, and [Christopher] Nolan moderated it. It’s on the Blu-ray – we had a panel discussion afterward. It was really fascinating to me to see the difference and the impact.”
Mann also spoke about modern action cinma, saying he’s not that impressed with what’s out at the movies these days when it comes to the genre:
“I’m just bored by it. It’s not very interesting. I mean, sometimes the choreography is so outrageous that it’s fascinating, and it is quite good. But generally, no. It’s just stale.”
It’s unclear when the “Heat” sequel might film as Mann will be busy with “Ferrari” for a while among other things. “Ferrari” stars Adam Driver, Penelope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Gabriel Leone, Sarah Gadon, Jack O’Connell, and Patrick Dempsey.
