Warner Bros.
With Leonardo DiCaprio already circling the project, reports indicate that the production of Michael Mann’s Heat 2 is on the verge of adding another modern Hollywood legend to its ranks, as reports indicate that Academy Award winner Christian Bale is in talks to join the project.
Christian Bale has a history with Michael Mann having starred as Melvin Purvis in the director’s 2009 film Public Enemies. Heat, released in 1995, starred Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Val Kilmer.
Christian Bale is reportedly in talks to join Leonardo DiCaprio in Michael Mann’s sequel to Heat
While Bale’s potential part has not been confirmed, the speculation is that he will be playing the older version of Val Kilmer’s Chris Shiherlis in the sequel portion of the story, with Austin Butler playing the younger version in the prequel part.
The same can be said for Leo DiCaprio’s role. While nothing has been confirmed, speculation points to him playing the Neil McCauley made famous by De Niro.
“Amazon MGM Studios and United Artists will start production next year on the second installment of Mann’s 1995 heist classic. Mann wrote the script based on the New York Times bestseller he authored with Meg Gardiner.”
‘The book, published in 2022, jumps between two time periods. The first following Shiherlis as he tries to evade the LAPD and Hanna following the bank robbery gone bad, and which moves forward into new territory in the tri-border zone and Southeast Asia. The second storyline takes readers back to Chicago in 1988 when McCauley, Shiherlis and their high-line crew are taking scores on the West Coast, the U.S.-Mexico border and in the Windy City. At the same time, Hanna is cutting his teeth as a rising star in the Chicago Police Department chasing an ultraviolent gang of home invaders.” [via Deadline]
With production on Heat 2 set to begin next year, it’s very likely that the film will be the next project that DiCaprio shoots, with many noticing that the actor has recently gotten into slimmer action movie shape, while also sporting facial hair similar to that of De Niro’s Neil McCauley in the original Heat from 1995.
DiCaprio is also expected to contend for another Best Actor prize at this year’s Academy Awards for his work in One Battle After Another, while Bale will next be seeing starring alongside Jessie Buckley in Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride.