Christian Bale’s Sequel To Robert De Niro’s Classic 31-Year-Old Crime Thriller On Track For Record-Setting Budget

Credit: Julie Edwards/Future Image/Cover Images Published Jul 30, 2026, 7:35 PM EDT Adam has been writing in the entertainment news space for over a decade. Beginning his career of covering film and TV at CinemaBlend, he has also appeared on The Flash Podcast and done several radio spots. Sign in to your ScreenRant account The Christian Bale-led sequel to one of Robert De Niro’s greatest crime thrillers is poised to have an impressive, record-setting budget. Four years after Heat 2’s publication, the film adaptation of Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner’s simultaneous prequel and sequel novel to 1995’s Heat is gearing up to begin principal photography. Earlier this month, it was confirmed that Bale will star in the upcoming Amazon MGM Studios movie as Detective Vincent Hanna, who was played by Al Pacino in Mann’s 1995 original. According to a new report, Heat 2 will be the filmmaker’s most expensive movie yet. The Wrap has heard that Heat 2’s budget currently rests at $165 million. That’s a sharp decrease from the previously-reported $200 million, which the publication states is due to Mann trimming down the original 190-page screenplay and “a $40 million rebate from the California Film Commission for the movie partially shooting in the great state of California.” However, that’s still $15 million more than what Mann spent on 2006’s Miami Vice, which adapted the same-named TV show that ran from 1984 to 1990. However, supposedly this budget for Heat 2 hasn’t been “finalized.” It was additionally claimed in the report by an insider tied to Heat 2’s production that this movie “could do for men of different ages what Barbie did for women.” While this individual doesn’t believe Heat 2’s box office haul will come close to matching Barbie’s, even somewhere around $500 million worldwide “would make the film profitable theatrically and then a huge hit for Amazon on their platform.” While Heat hailed from Warner Bros. Pictures, the studio failed to reach an agreement with Mann about Heat 2’s budget. The prequel/sequel was then reportedly intended to be a co-production between Paramount Pictures and Sony Pictures, but that partnership fell through when the former dropped out. Even when Sony was prepared to make Heat 2 on its own, the budget reportedly only came in at around $120 million. Then Amazon MGM Studios entered the picture and finalized a deal for Heat 2, with Sony still involved as an overseas distribution partner. Bale is joined in Heat 2 by Leonardo DiCaprio as Chris Shiherlis, who was played by Val Kilmer in the original Heat. Stephen Graham is also reportedly in consideration to take over the role of Neil McCauley from Robert De Niro, while Adam Driver is in negotiations to play the movie’s villain, Wardell. Like its source material, the Heat 2 movie will explore three time periods: 1988, when McCauley’s crew and Hanna were active in Chicago; 1995-1996, i.e. the immediate aftermath of Heat; and 2000, when Hanna and Chris’ paths cross again. Heat 2 will begin filming in November, but it doesn’t have a release date yet. Heat can currently be streamed for free on Plex, and Mann’s most recent movie, Ferrari (which starred Driver as Enzo Ferrari) is available to watch on Netflix. Bale and DiCaprio will next be seen in Madden and What Happens at Night, respectively. Release Date December 15, 1995 Runtime 170 minutes Director Michael Mann