Director Michael Mann is tackling Heat 2 as his next film. And he appreciates the studio's patience.

According to World of Reel, he told Radio France that he's in pre-production focus on Heat 2. Things are evolving quickly, as he hopes to start shooting later this summer.

Screen Rant states that the crime drama will be based on the original 1995 film, which starred Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Val Kilmer. Its events will take place before and after those of Heat.

Mann said, “It's going to be a combination [of CG and makeup]. And so, it won't be [Robert De Niro ] and Al [Pacino] playing McCauley and Hanna.”

He added, “And it actually starts eight years earlier than the movie. It starts in 1988, and then it's gonna jump to 2000. But I don't really know who to cast until I've actually written the screenplay, but I'm in the middle of writing the screenplay right now. And Warner Bros. have been very patient.”

Adam Driver will most likely play Neil MacCauley (originally De Niro). There are also some rumors of Austin Butler and Ana de Arrmas being part of the film.

How Michael Mann molds his characters

In the Radio France interview, Manngives insight into how he gives depth to his characters for Heat and other films to make them memorable.

“I became very ambitious in not reducing the characters to two-dimensional codes,” the director said. “For me, everyone has a life, everyone has family, everyone has conflicts. It's nature itself of life. And then we die, that's all. I have always been attracted by the idea of scaling characters to make them real human situations.”

He added, “The character played by Al Pacino in Heat, Vincent Hanna, is addicted to his augmented experience to life as a hunter. He is a hunter, a seeker, an explorer, a discoverer. He is in pursuit of Neil McCauley. There is a moment in the hospital after Natalie Portman attempted suicide where he's sitting with Justine. She says to him, ‘Can we get back together?' It's a moment of wisdom, and he responds, ‘It's not going to work. All I am is who I pursue.' And that's the truth.”

He also had insight into technology and its use in his films.

“I wanted to see the interior of Los Angeles at night, which was not possible with film, because we would have had to work with an aperture which gave a very shallow depth of field, beyond the foreground was blurry or invisible.”

Mann continued, “So we started experimenting with digital. I did it on a small level at first, in a few scenes, and it was believable. It felt like to really be there and I wondered why it had that effect. In fact, it seemed to dim the theatrical lighting. I love lighting, but in urban reality, since the whole movie takes place in one night in Los Angeles we used that technology. I believe the technology speaks for itself. I was never interested in imitating film. I wanted to exploit it for what it is.”

As Heat 2 develops, we'll report any Michael Mann updates on its progress. At least it's being worked on and should be coming our way soon.