Veteran filmmaker Michael Mann doesn’t hold a high opinion of modern action movies. Mann recently released a follow-up novel to his iconic 1995 film Heat and is currently gearing up to direct his long-gestating Enzo Ferrari biopic, Ferrari, starring Adam Driver and Penelope Cruz. Mann also has plans to adapt his novel Heat 2 into a feature film once he wraps Ferrari, and it will serve as both a sequel and a prequel to Heat.
In a recent interview with Total Film, Mann talked about Heat 2 and how it will be a big theatrical release instead of a television series. Mann also gave his take on the current landscape of action cinema, and he didn’t mince words.
"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."
Mann didn’t take any names, but it’s unlikely that he’s echoing the anti-superhero comments of Martin Scorsese or Francis Ford Coppola. Mann has previously praised Todd Phillips’ Joker and ranked Avatar in his all-time favorite lists, indicating he does love blockbusters and comic-book movies, but just not modern ones. Heat was also the single biggest influence on Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.
As for the state of action movies nowadays, the quality is certainly deteriorating, and even the established IPs like Marvel and Jurassic Park are delivering sub-par movies. However, every once in a while, a gem like Top Gun: Maverick or Mad Max: Fury Road storms into theaters and takes everyone by surprise.
Michael Mann Has Confirmed That Heat 2 Will Happen
Michael Mann’s first novel, Heat 2, is topping bestseller lists, and it’s only a matter of time before a film adaptation makes its way to the big screen. Heat 2, written by Mann and Meg Gardiner, is both a prequel and a sequel to Heat and takes place between 1988 and 2000.
Heat 2 explores the backstories of elite criminal Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) and LAPD detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) while centering on Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer) in the aftermath of the events of Heat. The 466-page Heat 2 is an epic follow-up to the 1995 classic and has been well-received by fans and critics alike. And the epic scale of the novel warrants a big screen adaptation, not a television series, Michael Mann told Total Film.
"There’s fantastic work in television, and for whatever reason, it has a short half-life. 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."
Mann is no stranger to television, and he recently directed the pilot of HBO’s Tokyo Vice, but he believes Heat 2 deserves nothing less than a grand cinematic experience. Unfortunately, there is no word on Heat 2’s release date or casting, but Mann expects it to be his next project after Ferrari, which comes out in 2023.