Christian Bale Set For Mann’s “Heat 2”

Christian Bale has confirmed he will star in Michael Mann’s “Heat 2” alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, according to entertainment journalist Jake Hamilton.

A frequent interviewer on red carpets, Hamilton indicated he’d just spoken to Bale, who told him: “I’ll be back in Chicago soon for HEAT 2”. The project would mark a re-teaming of Bale with his “Public Enemies” director Mann.

Bale was rumored late last year for a major role, but which one wasn’t specified. He, DiCaprio and Stephen Graham have so far been the most subjected to rumors in recent months after talk about the likes of Austin Butler, Adam Driver and Bradley Cooper died down last year.

The new film, based on a 2022 novel, serves as a prequel-sequel hybrid that follows events in 1988 for Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro in the original) and Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino in the original), and a few months after events in 1995 with Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer in the original) in the tri-border zone in South America.

While the film will be partly shot in Chicago, it was a big winner in California’s entertainment tax credit program back in October with a significant portion expected to be shot in that state in exchange for $37.2 million in tax credits.

The film is tipped to be budgeted at $150 million with a 77-day shoot planned for Los Angeles and other areas of California.