Heat: Bang bang !
 

PostED ON 19.10.2025

The crowning achievement of Michael Mann's filmography, Heat, the sixth feature from the American director, recipient of the 2025 Lumière Award, will be screened at the festival's closing ceremony. The chilling urban crime thriller, now considered a classic of the genre, brings together two giants of cinema: Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. 

© Warner Bros. - Regency Enterprises - Forward Pass - Art Linson Productions - Monarchy Enterprises B.V.
Michael Mann on the set of Heat 

It all began in 1983. At the time, Michael Mann was working on his third feature film, The Keep, but was not yet exclusively devoted to cinema. Coming from the world of documentaries and television, he had already written the screenplay for Heat, but did not feel ready to direct it himself. Twelve years later, after the historical epic success of The Last of the Mohicans (1992), the project came to fruition in the form of a remake of his own TV movie, L.A. Takedown (1989). But it would be transformed into an XXL production with a phenomenal cast, featuring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer and Jon Voight. Natalie Portman (guest of honour at the Lumière film festival), fourteen at the time, also appeared in the film. She had been discovered a year earlier in Luc Besson's Léon: The Professional. 

The story plunges us into nocturnal LA of an unknown era, something resembling the 1970s or 1980s. A daring but botched hold-up turns into a manhunt between a work-obsessed lieutenant, Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino), and a highly experienced robber, Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro). The latter is accustomed to getting involved with his gang in shady deals promising ‘eight-figure’ returns. The result is a compelling clash between a powerful thirst for justice on one side and revenge on the other.

Apart from the thrilling opening and closing scenes, and an iconic bank robbery scene – which took ten days to shoot and is the defining feature of Heat – the film's strength lies in its ability to offer much more beyond fighting and violence. An uncanny fact: in the film's 2 hours and 50 minutes, the cop and criminal (Pacino and De Niro) are never seen together on screen, even during their only encounter in a café, a kind of unexpected truce during the infernal chase.

© Warner Bros / DR
Heat (1995)

Roaring cars, frenzied gunfire, all kinds of underhand dealings... The essential ingredients are there to deliver a hard-hitting crime film. This is made clear by the huge box-office success of Heat upon its release in 1995: over $187 million grossed worldwide, and 1.4 million tickets sold in France. That's all. And Michael Mann doesn't plan on stopping there: the rumours are true; Heat 2 is indeed in the works! The new instalment will be adapted from the novel of the same name co-written by the filmmaker with Meg Gardiner, published in 2022. The story, which will feature both a prequel and a sequel to Heat, is expected to pick up where the first film left off, following the escape of criminal Chris Shiherlis while simultaneously recounting the early days of his accomplice Neil McCauley and Lieutenant Vincent Hanna. The action will therefore take place over several periods and in various locations across the United States and South America. 

© Warner Bros / DR
Heat (1995)

And the filming of Heat 2? ‘We're still in negotiations, but if all goes well, we should start filming in the summer of 2026!’ Once again, the cast will be top-notch. Among the stars being considered are Leonardo DiCaprio—currently in talks to reprise the role of Chris Shiherlis—as well as Adam Driver, Austin Butler and Bradley Cooper. Stay tuned! 

Fanny Bellocq

Halle Tony Garnier
15h CLOSING CEREMONY
Heat by Michael Mann (2h50)
In the presence of Michael Mann