Amazon MGM's United Artists is in final negotiations to take over the project from Warner Bros., and no casting is official at this point. Heat 2 heats up with

Amazon MGM's United Artists is in final negotiations to take over the project from Warner Bros., and no casting is official at this point.

*Heat 2 *heats up with Leonardo DiCaprio eyed to take over late Val Kilmer's role

Amazon MGM's United Artists is in final negotiations to take over the project from Warner Bros., and no casting is official at this point.

By Wesley Stenzel

Wesley Stenzel is a news writer at **. He began writing for EW in 2022.

EW's editorial guidelines

October 7, 2025 5:52 p.m. ET

Leave a Comment

Leonardo DiCaprio at the 'One Battle After Another' London premiere on Sept. 16, 2025; Val Kilmer in 'Heat'. Credit:

Samir Hussein/WireImage; Mary Evans/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection

- Amazon MGM's United Artists is in final negotiations to take over *Heat 2* from Warner Bros.

- Michael Mann, who helmed the original 1995 film starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, is returning to write and direct.

- Leonardo DiCaprio is being eyed to portray Chris Shiherlis, the bank robber originally played by Val Kilmer.

Leonardo DiCaprio might be feeling the heat around the corner.

United Artists, a division of Amazon MGM Studios, is in final negotiations to take over *Heat 2*, the long-awaited sequel to Michael Mann's 1995 crime drama *Heat*. The film had previously been in development at Warner Bros.

Robert De Niro and Val Kilmer in 'Heat'.

Mann will return to write and direct the film, which will be based on the 2022 novel *Heat 2* that the filmmaker co-authored with Meg Gardiner. Jerry Bruckheimer, Scott Stuber, and Nick Nesbitt will produce alongside Mann despite having no involvement in the original film. (Bruckheimer, however, has recently found success with other long-awaited sequels like *Top Gun: Maverick* and *Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F*.)

No cast deals are currently in place, though a representative for UA noted that the film will feature an "all-new cast," which suggests that original stars Al Pacino and Ashley Judd — whose characters survived the original film and factor into the *Heat 2* novel — will not return in any capacity.

However, ** has learned that DiCaprio is being eyed to portray Chris Shiherlis, the bank robber who was originally played by Val Kilmer in the 1995 film.

Leonardo DiCaprio says 'One Battle After Another' tackles extremism 'on both sides'

Leonardo DiCaprio explains why he 'didn't land a lot' of his stunts in 'One Battle After Another'

The two actors would be considerably different ages in their respective portrayals of Chris — Kilmer was 35 when *Heat* was released, while DiCaprio will turn 51 next month. However, parts of the *Heat 2* novel take place five years after the events of the first movie, so the character *should* look older for a decent chunk of his screen time.

DiCaprio has never worked with Mann as a director, though the duo previously collaborated when the *Miami Vice* filmmaker produced Martin Scorsese's *The Aviator*. DiCaprio also previously expressed interest in portraying John Dillinger, the role that eventually went to his *What's Eating Gilbert Grape* costar Johnny Depp, in an adaptation of *Public Enemies* that Mann ultimately directed in 2009.

Leonardo DiCaprio at a 'One Battle After Another' screening in New York City on Sept. 21, 2025.

Jamie McCarthy/WireImage

The film would also mark DiCaprio's first sequel since 1991, when he made his film debut at age 16 in the direct-to-video horror film *Critters 3*.

*THR* reported that Austin Butler, Bradley Cooper, and Adam Driver (who worked with Mann in the filmmaker's most recent feature *Ferrari*) have all been considered for parts in the sequel. Representatives for Butler, Cooper, and Driver did not immediately respond to EW's requests for comment.

Al Pacino in 'Heat'.

***Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with our EW Dispatch newsletter.***

The original *Heat* starred Pacino as Vincent Hanna, the LAPD detective investigating bank robber Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro). Though both actors appeared in *The Godfather Part II*, *Heat* marked the first time that Pacino and De Niro shared scenes together on the big screen.

*Heat 2* serves as both a prequel and a sequel to the film, interspersing storylines from earlier in the characters' careers (circa 1988) with the events that followed the 1995 film.

Original Article on Source

Source: "AOL Movies"

Read More

---

Source: Astro Blog

Full Article on Source: Astro Blog

#LALifestyle #USCelebrities