Leonardo DiCaprio Confirms Heat 2 Casting, Shares New Details

Leonardo DiCaprio has confirmed that he’ll be starring in Heat 2.

Heat 2 serves as both a prequel and a sequel to Michael Mann’s Heat, which was released in 1995. The new movie is based on a 2022 crime novel that was written by Mann and Meg Gardiner.

It was previously reported that DiCaprio is in talks to star in Heat 2; however, Deadline’s Justin Kroll said in October 2025 that “a lot of actors” have met with Mann to talk about potentially starring in Heat 2, and that DiCaprio is “still a maybe” when it comes to being in it. Shortly after that, it was announced that Christian Bale had entered negotiations to star in the movie.

What did Leonardo DiCaprio say about Heat 2?

Speaking with Deadline, DiCaprio confirmed he’ll be starring in the movie, though he did say that they’re still “in mid-discussion” regarding which character he’ll wind up playing.

DiCaprio also said of Heat 2, “This is very much its own movie. We’re still working on it, we’re a ways away from production. It tips its hat to Heat, but it’s an homage, and it picks up the story from there. The book is already out there, so there are no big secrets that I’m divulging. It’s set in the future, and the past, from that pivotal moment in what I think is the great crime noir film of my lifetime. 

“It’s one of those films that just keeps resonating, that we keep talking about, that has been imitated so many times and influenced so many different movies. So, we’re working on it. But it’s certainly exciting, and I think I look at it as its own silo, in a sense. We can’t duplicate what Heat was, so it’s paying homage to that film, but giving it its own unique entity.”

A release date for Heat 2 has not yet been announced.

Source: Comingsoon.net