Michael Mann’s Heat 2 — the novel — is expected to hit shelves August 9, 2022. Composite by Coffee or Die Magazine.
Ever since Michael Mann blew moviegoers away with his hyperrealistic Los Angeles gunfight, many fans of the 1995 film Heat have wondered what happened to the surviving characters. Did Lt. Vincent Hanna pursue the other bank robbers? Did Chris and Charlene Shiherlis ever reunite? Will Neil McCauley’s family ever know a regular life full of barbecues and ball games? Now, nearly 30 years after the film’s theatrical release, those questions may finally be answered. Mann recently announced an upcoming novel, Heat 2, that will follow his iconic characters before and after the calamitous bank heist.
The book marks Mann’s first venture as a novelist. The story will expand the plot of Heat from six years prior to several years after the events in the film. Despite its being Mann’s first novel, the acclaimed film director signed a multimillion-dollar deal with William Morrow, a HarperCollins imprint. The book is expected to hit shelves Aug. 9, 2022.
The novel will reportedly delve into the backstory of Al Pacino’s iconic FN FNC 80-wielding Hanna, chronicling his years as a young Marine in Vietnam to his rise through the ranks as a respected robbery detective. It will also pick up with the wounded Chris Shiherlis; Mann promises Shiherlis will take another job with Kelso, the architect behind the film’s climactic robbery. In addition to the familiar faces, Heat 2 will also introduce new characters who span the globe from Los Angeles and Mexico to Taiwan and South America.
While Mann remains the king of crafting realistic movie gunfights, it’s yet to be seen how he fares as a novelist. But if Heat 2 resembles Mann’s screenplays for Heat, Public Enemies, or The Last of the Mohicans, it’s sure to deliver compelling action and well-crafted characters. And if the novel garners enough positive attention, it’s not crazy to think fans might get lucky and see their favorite cops and robbers blasting away on the silver screen one more time in a film adaptation.
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Mac Caltrider is a senior staff writer for Coffee or Die Magazine. He served in the US Marine Corps and is a former police officer. Caltrider earned his bachelor’s degree in history and now reads anything he can get his hands on. He is also the creator of Pipes & Pages, a site intended to increase readership among enlisted troops. Caltrider spends most of his time reading, writing, and waging a one-man war against premature hair loss.
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