Austin Butler Offers Suspicious Response to Rumors He Will Star in Heat 2

Summary

• Austin Butler has responded to rumors he will star in Heat 2 as Chris Shiherlis.
• Director Michael Mann confirms
  Heat 2
  as his next project, serving as both a prequel and a sequel to the original 1995 film.
• Butler will next star in
  The Bikeriders
  alongside Tom Hardy, Jodie Comer, and Norman Reedus.

Academy Award nominee and Dune 2 star Austin Butler has broken his silence over the ongoing rumors that he will play a major role in Heat 2, the crime thriller follow-up from director Michael Mann. When the rumors were addressed recently by Total Film, Butler kept things suspiciously close to his chest, praising the first movie and offering the kind of response that is sure to simply add more fuel to the speculation fire…

“Yeah, I… I mean, I love the first film, but no comment on that.”

Butler is rumored to be playing the criminal character Chris Shiherlis, a role played by Val Kilmer in the original movie. Rumors persist that the Elvis star has joined the crime thriller project, with the actor recently spotted training in gunplay. The sort of gunplay that would come in very handy in Heat 2…

The Heat follow-up will act as both a prequel and a sequel to the 1995 movie, which follows acting icons Al Pacino and Robert De Niro as a cop, Vincent Hanna, and a robber, Neil McCauley, exploring the conflict between the LAPD detective and the career criminal, and how these two careers affect their professional relationships and personal lives.

Heat 2 Will Act as Both a Prequel and a Sequel

Heat

Release Date December 15, 1995

Runtime 170

Studio Warner Bros.

Tagline An epic tale of crime and obsession and two men on opposite sides of the law

Director Michael Mann has now stated that Heat 2, which will be based on the 2022 novel of the same name by Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner, is “definitely” his next project and will act as both a sequel and a prequel.

“I’m writing the screenplay right now. And it comes from having so much background and then protracting where some of these lives go. What I had to figure out is a device, a story, that can keep the end of it and the beginning – it is a prequel and a sequel. Starts in ’88, it actually starts on the first day after the end of the movie with Val Kilmer trying to get out of L.A.”

Next up for Butler, though, is the drama The Bikeriders, which premiered at the 50th Telluride Film Festival back in August 2023 to much critical acclaim. Written and directed by Jeff Nichols, who is known for crafting powerful dramas such as Take Shelter, Mud, Midnight Special, and Loving, The Bikeriders stars a stellar ensemble cast, including Jodie Comer (The Last Duel), Austin Butler (Elvis), Tom Hardy (Mad Max: Fury Road), Michael Shannon (The Shape of Water), Mike Faist (West Side Story), Boyd Holbrook (Logan), and Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead).

You can check out the official synopsis for The Bikeriders below.

“The Bikeriders follows the rise of a midwestern motorcycle club, the Vandals. Seen through the lives of its members, the club evolves over the course of a decade from a gathering place for local outsiders into a more sinister gang, threatening the original group’s unique way of life.”

The Bikeriders
is due to be released in theaters in the United States on June 21, 2024.

You can view the original article HERE.