With filming about to begin on Heat 2, the actor playing the main villain has now been confirmed.
The first movie came out in 1995, with Al Pacino playing Detective Vincent Hanna as he tries to nab thief Neil McCauley, played by Robert De Niro. Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Amy Brenneman, Ashley Judd, Natalie Portman and Tom Noonan also starred in the crime drama. Heat grossed $187 million at the box office and earned positive reviews from critics.
More than three decades have passed, and production on the prequel/sequel is close to getting underway. During an interview on Virgin Radio UK‘s The Chris Evans Breakfast Show, Stephen Graham, who has been cast as a younger version of De Niro’s Neil, confirmed reports that Adam Driver will play Heat 2‘s villain, Otis Wardell, a criminal roaming Chicago.
Driver is best known for his roles in Girls and the Star Wars sequel trilogy.
The actor added that he was going to be catching a flight right after the interview to begin work on Heat 2.
“It’s Heat 2, and I’m going to be working with Leo—Leonardo DiCaprio—Christian Bale and Adam Driver, and Michael Mann’s directing. My flight [is] in a couple of hours.”
Aside from Graham and Driver, Heat 2 is also starring Christian Bale as a younger Vincent Hanna and Leonardo DiCaprio as Chris Shiherlis, the character originally played by Kilmer.
Jason Clarke, Odessa Young and María Cid are all reportedly joining the cast as well, and it was just reported the other day that The Bear‘s Ebon Moss-Bachrach is in talks for Noonan’s role, Kelso.
Heat 2 has been in development for several years, and it all started when filmmaker Michael Mann, who’s coming back for the sequel, co-wrote a novel with Meg Gardiner in 2022 that serves as the basis for the upcoming movie.
The storyline begins after the events of Heat, with Vincent on the hunt for Chris Shiherlis, before going back in time to show the detective investigating a gang in Chicago.
Working with Mann as producers are Jerry Bruckheimer, Scott Stuber, Nick Nesbitt, Eric Roth and Shane Salerno.
In the three-plus decades since directing Heat, Mann has gone on to helm The Insider, Ali, Collateral (earning him a BAFTA nomination for Best Direction), Miami Vice and Ferrari; he also worked on the TV shows Luck and Tokyo Vice.
Now the filmmaker is returning to the Heat universe to direct the Amazon MGM Studios sequel, with Graham in one of the starring roles.
In recent years, the actor has become best known for co-creating and starring in the hit Netflix crime drama Adolescence, which received several award show nominations and won at the Emmys, Golden Globes, Actor Awards, BAFTAs and Critics’ Choice Awards.
Graham’s other TV roles include Boardwalk Empire, White House Farm and Peaky Blinders, and he’s been seen in movies like Snatch, Gangs of New York, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and the Venom film series.
Graham is heading back to the big screen in Heat 2, with filming beginning soon, though a release date has not been announced yet.
- Director
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Michael Mann
- Writers
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Meg Gardiner, Michael Mann
- Producers
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Holly Bario, Jerry Bruckheimer, Michael Mann, Nick Nesbitt, Scott Stuber
