Michael Mann has been talking about a Heat prequel novel for a few years now, which got Mann fans excited. The novel hasn’t been published yet, but Mann has provided an update on the project – and confirmed he’d very much like to make the prequel novel into the movie. He’s also interested in making a sequel, and we can only hope he’ll actually get around to making both of these movies happen.

One of these days, Michael Mann will give us the Heat prequel novel he’s been teasing since 2016. It was that year when Mann closed a deal to launch Michael Mann Books, and revealed he would be working on a prequel that would follow the “formative years of homicide detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro), Chris Shihirles (Val Kilmer), McCauley’s accomplice Nate (Jon Voight), and other characters” from Mann’s 1995 crime-movie masterpiece.

Last year, Mann confirmed the Heat prequel was still in the works, and now he’s confirmed it yet again. Speaking with Deadline, Mann said:

“It’s a stack about 10 inches high on my desk right now. We’re on it, and I’m putting time into that and a screenplay I can’t tell you about. But I absolutely want to make a movie of the Heat prequel, and a sequel.”

Heat is more often than not held up as the pinnacle of Mann’s career, and it’s easy to see why – it’s fantastic. A sprawling, stylish crime epic that features one of the best shoot-outs ever captured on film, Heat remains a classic for a reason. And while I have a knee-jerk reaction against any sort of prequel movie – which is bound to cast younger actors in all the roles – I’m definitely curious to see what Mann is cooking up.

As for a Heat sequel, I have no idea what that could be about, other than checking-in on a much older version of Pacino’s character – which I would absolutely watch without hesitation. Meanwhile, Mann is currently waiting to get back to work on filming the pilot for HBO’s Tokyo Vice, a series about an American crime reporter working in Tokyo. Ansel Elgort and Ken Watanabe star.

The post Michael Mann Wants to Turn His ‘Heat’ Prequel Novel Into a Movie, And Make a Sequel, Too appeared first on /Film.