Director Michael Mann plans to turn his sequel novel Heat 2 into a movie, but would de-aging the original film’s stars Al Pacino and Robert De Niro – as The Irishman did – work in this case? Heat was a screenplay that Mann penned in the late ’70s, and was based on an antidote the filmmaker heard from a police officer who sat for coffee with a thief he was chasing – and later shot dead. Mann wasn’t ready to tackle the material himself and even offered it to director Walter Hill (The Warriors), who passed. An issue Mann had with his story is he felt he hadn’t nailed the ending.
He later turned Heat into a TV pilot dubbed L.A. Takedown, starring Scott Plank and Alex McArthur in the roles later turned by Pacino and De Niro in Heat – where Mann revisited with a “director’s definitive” cut. This pilot was directed by Mann but was filmed quickly and greatly condensed the screenplay, and includes an alternate ending where McArthur’s thief is shot and killed by rival Waingro. Mann later realized the perfect ending had to be the detective killing the thief himself, and staying with him until he died. Part of the buzz surrounding Heat was the first onscreen pairing between De Niro and Pacino, with their meeting in a diner regarded as one of the best scenes of either performer’s career.
Heat was a success upon release, but over time it came to be recognized as a classic. The movie didn’t end in a way that set up sequels, but Mann and co-author Meg Gardiner revisited the same characters for Heat 2. The book acts as prequel and sequel, detailing Hanna’s time in Chicago where McCauley and his crew – which included former Batman star Val Kilmer – were also working, and what happened to the survivors of the film in the years that followed. The story is set between 1988 and 2000, with both Hanna and McCauley being featured players. If a movie adaptation of Heat 2 happens, Mann will either have to recast those characters – no easy feat, considering the pedigree of the original actors – or opt to de-age both Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.
Heat 2 Would Be Harder To Make Than The Irishman
Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman was another time-hopping crime movie that marked an onscreen reunion between Pacino and De Niro. The film regularly employed de-aging technology to allow the pair – and co-star Joe Pesci – to portray their character at different stages in their lives. How effective The Irishman’s de-aging technique was depends on the viewer; it could be eerily good in certain moments but the limits of it would often shine through too. This was especially evident during scenes requiring De Niro’s titular gangster to be more physical, with the actor’s movements being that of a man in his seventies, and not a character who is supposed to be half that age.
Without spoiling the plot of Heat 2, both Hanna and McCauley are involved in highly physical setpieces, including foot chases and gunfights. The de-aging effect on Hanna and McCauley might be able to convincingly portray the two when they were in their 40s – as they are in the early chapters – but the sequel would require a higher degree of physical activity than The Irishman. Of course, those sections could be handled with stuntmen and doubles, but Mann- who saved Miami Vice – himself is a stickler for reality and verisimilitude in his work.
The actors on Heat trained for the heist sequences relentlessly in pre-production, including learning how to handle firearms. Kilmer’s swift magazine change during the bank shootout is considered so perfect that training instructors at Fort Brigg play it to recruits. Mann will demand that level of realism from his performers for Heat 2 also, which Pacino and De Niro – who are 82 and 79 respectively – may not be willing to commit to. In an interview with Esquire, the director also stated of using de-aging tech that “I just don’t connect with heavy prosthetics or visual effect-laden things.” In addition, he feels audiences subconsciously pick up on the method, revealing “I’d also have a problem with the movement of the actors. I mean, I’m 79 and I don’t move the way I did when I was 39!”
