Michael Mann Battling Over 'Heat' Rights As Sequel Gears Up
The legendary director's about to shoot 'Heat 2' — but there's a legal fight brewing over who actually owns the original script.
Michael Mann's been sitting on the "Heat 2" sequel for years. Now that cameras are set to roll in January, he's trying to lock down something he should've owned all along: the copyright to his own screenplay from the 1995 original.
The issue? New Regency, the studio that produced "Heat" back in '95, is claiming they still hold the rights. They filed suit this week to defend that claim, and now Mann's got a fight on his hands right when he's trying to move the project forward.
This is the kind of Hollywood mess that happens when deals get done decades ago without airtight paperwork — or at least that's how it looks from the outside. Mann wrote "Heat." It's his vision. But somewhere in the legal machinery of the '90s, the rights got tangled up, and now we're here.
The clock's ticking if January's really the start date. Mann's not the type to fold easy, though. We'll see how this plays out.
Read the full story at Variety → https://variety.com/2026/film/news/michael-mann-new-regency-heat-screenplay-lawsuit-1236947532/
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