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Michael Mann and his planned Heat sequel is reportedly too expensive for Warner Bros. - but Leonardo DiCaprio might be able to help
It's been 30 years since Michael Mann made the crime classic Heat - but the sequel is taking longer than anyone expected because it might be too pricey for the studio
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Movie buffs who have been waiting decades for the sequel to crime classic Heat might have to wait a little longer — unless Leonardo DiCaprio can change the math of the whole thing.
According to Puck’s Matt Belloni, Warner Bros. is asking writer/director Michael Mann to lower the cost of his long-awaited sequel to the 1995 movie Heat, from upwards of $200 million to something far more acceptable to the cost-conscious studio. Mann’s initial counterproposal of around $170 million was still seen as a little high, leading to a seeming stalemate about the movie’s prospects For context, this summer’s Superman cost $225 million according to estimates; A Minecraft Movie was budgeted somewhere around $150 million.
That’s not to say that WB doesn’t want to make the movie; per Belloni’s sources, the studio is open to dealing with another studio to share the cost of the project, which is a common situation on particularly expensive movies. (Apparently, feelers have already gone out to Apple, which has both a history of funding prestige projects from name directors — Martin Scorsese’s 2023 Killers of the Flower Moon, anybody? — and a good relationship with WB, thanks to shows like Ted Lasso and Shrinking.)
What might change everything, however, is the fact that Leonardo DiCaprio has apparently talked to Mann about starring in the movie. It’s unclear which part DiCaprio would take in the project, which is based on Mann’s 2022 novel (co-written with Meg Gardiner) that acts as a sequel and a prequel to the 1995 movie, with casting on the movie being a long-running mystery; Adam Driver and Austin Butler has been rumored to be attached to the film for more than two years by this point, with both actors and Mann all declining to comment on the matter.
However, as Belloni puts it, “If Leo is actually serious (always a question with him), that would likely push this project past the goal line.” Assuming, of course, Warner Bros. and/or Apple is willing to foot the bill.
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