Heat sequel may film in Singapore, says director Michael Mann

The classic 1995 crime thriller Heat could soon have a sequel, with portions of it filmed in Singapore, its writer-director Michael Mann told entertainment magazine Variety.

Speaking at Lumiere Film Festival in Lyon, France, on Oct 18, the 82-year-old said Heat 2 is "going to shoot in Chicago, Los Angeles, Paraguay and possibly some parts in Singapore".

The American film-maker, whose previous films include The Last Of The Mohicans (1992) and the boxing biopic Ali (2001), told Variety that filming was expected to begin in the summer of 2026.

Mann did not name actors who had been confirmed for Heat 2. But Leonardo DiCaprio is said to be in early talks to play Chris Shiherlis, a trusted member of the heist team played by the late Val Kilmer in the original movie.

Kilmer died in April after a battle with throat cancer and other health complications.

Adam Driver was also said to be in discussions to play a young Neil McCauley, the criminal mastermind played by Robert De Niro in the original. There were also rumours that Ana de Armas would play Elisa, Neil's girlfriend, in a storyline set in 1988.

Al Pacino, who played Neil's cop nemesis Vincent Hanna in Heat, will possibly reprise the role through the use of technology, according to previous reports.

"Ageing and de-ageing may be very important in the next film," Mann told Variety.

Other actors said to be pursuing roles in the film include Channing Tatum, Jeremy Allen White and Bradley Cooper.

Heat 2 is expected to be an adaptation of the 2022 novel of the same name, written by Mann and thriller writer Meg Gardiner.

In the Variety article, Mann said the sequel reveals McCauley's backstory, showing how the isolated, distrustful criminal had a wife and stepdaughter he loved dearly before transforming into the lone-wolf figure seen in the original film.

The Heat 2 novel chronicles what happens after the 1995 film's botched bank heist, with Shiherlis emerging as the sole survivor. The sequel picks up one day after the original ends, with Shiherlis fleeing the US and eventually becoming entangled with an Asian crime family.

If Heat 2 does head to Singapore for filming, it will join Hollywood productions such as romcom Crazy Rich Asians (2018), science-fiction romance Equals (2015) and Season 3 of the HBO science-fiction series Westworld (2016 to 2022). Season 2 of the dating reality show Match Me Abroad, which aired in 2025, also had portions filmed here.