The publicity tour for Michael Mann’s first film in nearly a decade, Ferrari, has afforded the opportunity for the 80-year-old filmmaker to discuss forthcoming projects, including a Vietnam War drama, a sci-fi film, an adaptation of the South Korean crime thriller Veteran and, of course, what will likely be his next feature, Heat 2 starring Adam Driver. He’s also keeping busy on the novel-writing front and has announced his next project.
After teaming with Meg Gardiner on the novel for Heat 2, Deadline reports they will reunite for a new book. Though currently untitled, it will “explore an intense global manhunt launched by a renegade federal agent and a stateless operator on a vendetta, in a highly authentic global arena.” With plans for the book to be part of a series, as part of Mann’s deal with HarperCollins division William Morrow, expect more announcements soon.
Naming it one of the best films of 2023, David Katz said of Ferrari, “Appreciating Ferrari, Michael Mann’s long-planned biopic on the Italian racing mogul, it helps to go back to the director’s original rationale for the project. Where many viewers found an underpowered, stuttering work, the compressed period of time and the plot strands contained within were judiciously chosen by screenwriter Troy Kennedy Martin and Mann to highlight Ferrari’s imperious and, most importantly, monstrous capabilities. The climactic Mille Miglia sequence, more than any in Mann’s body of work, horrifyingly illustrates the cost of progress and profit motive’s denial of the human factor. And it being the first Mann film you could accurately call “operatic” since the ’90s only further enhanced what could be a dual directorial swan song with Heat 2, if it ends up being made.”
As we await more details on Heat 2 and his forthcoming novel, watch recent conversations with director below, with the first one conducted by yours truly.