Adam Driver has confirmed he is playing the villain in Michael Mann's long-developing Heat 2. Appearing on The Rich Eisen Show while promoting Paper Tiger, Driver said he will play Otis Wardell, the vicious criminal at the center of the 2022 novel Mann wrote with Meg Gardiner, The Playlist reports.
Asked about the part, Driver said he thought he could confirm it, then joked that he would find out soon enough. He also gave the screenplay a strong endorsement, calling it "a missile" and saying it is even more condensed and streamlined than the book.
A reunion with Mann after 'Ferrari'
The film reunites Driver with Mann after Ferrari. Driver said Mann planned to personally take him on a tour of Los Angeles locations tied to the script on Friday, Nov. 6, as part of his preparation. He expects to join production in early December, with filming set to begin early next year, according to The Playlist. The shoot had earlier been planned for November before moving to January 2027.
Driver also addressed Mann's recent accident at a Los Angeles gun range, where the 83-year-old director suffered a superficial gunshot injury. Driver said Mann answered his text right away and was back at work the next day, and he said the schedule change had nothing to do with the incident.
Heat 2 covers events both before and after Mann's 1995 crime classic Heat. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Chris Shiherlis, the role originated by Val Kilmer, and Christian Bale plays Vincent Hanna, the detective Al Pacino played in the original. Stephen Graham takes on a younger Neil McCauley, Robert De Niro's role, while Jason Clarke and Odessa Young also star. Ebon Moss-Bachrach entered final talks in September to play the informant Kelso. The project moved from Warner Bros. to Amazon MGM Studios amid budget concerns.
Catch up with Cup of Soul's guide to everything we know about Heat 2, our report on Mann's gun range accident and our review of Driver's Paper Tiger.
