Welcome back, Readers!
Yes, you’ve read that right! A few blog posts ago, I wrote about the book Heat 2, which takes place before and after the film’s events. Now I am hearing rumblings that the writer/director is making the film and might already have an idea of who can play the lead.
Heat 2: The speculation
In the 1995 classic crime film, Heat, Val Kilmer played the role of Chris Shiherlis. Now, it looks like Austin Butler might be taking that role for a sequel/prequel. This news comes after Austin Butler appeared on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast and revealed that he recently rewatched Heat and added Thief to his list of movies to watch. Let’s explore what this could mean for the upcoming sequel/prequel.
Heat 2 is currently being developed by Michael Mann, who wrote, produced, and directed the original film. It’s unclear whether this new project will be a sequel or a prequel, like the book. Or how closely it will follow what is written on the pages. But knowing Michael Mann, it will follow the book closely. But either way, it’s sure to excite fans (like me) of the original movie. The original Heat starred Robert De Niro and Al Pacino as two men on opposite sides of the law — one a criminal mastermind, the other an LAPD detective trying to bring him down. Val Kilmer played Chris Shiherlis, an ex-convict whose life is caught up in De Niro’s web of crime.
Chris Shiherlis/Austin Butler
So what does all this have to do with Austin Butler? According to World Of Reel, Butler appeared on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, revealing that he recently rewatched Heat and added Thief to his list of movies. This has led some people to believe that Butler might take over Kilmer’s role in Heat 2—a project still in its early stages of development. Seeing how Austin Butler fares in such a challenging role should be interesting.
When Val Kilmer played the role, he held silent anger. He was quick to outbursts when it came to his wife and child but was also very loyal as we see he is a protege/confidant of De Niro’s character.
Looking Similar
Austin Butler seems like an ideal choice for taking over Val Kilmer’s role in Heat 2 (or whatever it ends up being called). He looks very similar to Val in his younger years, enough so that he could play him younger and maybe even older as the years in the book are ten or so between each other.
Austin Butler has proven himself as an actor countless times before—notably with his star-making performance in Elvis—and now he could bring his talents back into another iconic film franchise with Michael Mann at the helm. While we don’t know any specifics about this project yet, we do know that fans are eager for more news about it—so stay tuned!
