Over the last two decades, Jason Clarke has quietly staked his claim as one of Australia’s greatest acting exports. From Lawless and Zero Dark Thirty to Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes and Mudbound, and from First Man to Oppenheimer to A House Of Dynamite, the man virtually never misses (shh, Terminator Genisys never happened!) And now, per Deadline‘s reporting, it looks like Clarke may be reuniting with the director of one of his formative films, Public Enemies. Yes, Clarke is currently circling a role in Michael Mann’s hotly anticipated crime sequel Heat 2.
While no cast deals have been locked in yet for Michael Mann’s follow-up to his 1995 crime epic, Deadline has multiple sources corroborating the potential Clarke casting coup. And, what’s more, those self-same sources continue to indicate that Leonardo DiCaprio and another Public Enemies star, Christian Bale, remain in the conversation to play pivotal roles in the film.
For those unfamiliar with Heat 2, Mann’s Meg Gardiner co-authored 2022 novel (which takes place both before and after the events of the first film), it’s very much a book of two halves. One half is dedicated to charting the younger years of rookie cop Vincent Hanna and up-and-coming crook Neil McCauley and his gang in the 1980s, while the other follows Hanna’s pursuit of an on-the-run Chris Shiherlis in the present as past actions intersect with present consequences. The sequel book does also introduce an all-new antagonist, the outright evil and downright psychopathic home invader, murderer, and rapist Otis Wardell. Who Clarke — perhaps most well known for portraying villains — would prospectively play in the movie remains unknown.
With production due to get underway on Heat 2 this year, we fully expect some concrete casting confirmations to start pouring through on Mann’s cat-and-mouse sequel as cameras get closer to rolling. Even going on little more than a book and some whispers of names looking to get involved in the action, we’re starting to feel the heat around the corner once again…
