Nearly three decades after its release, Michael Mann's Heat is once again at the centre of a high-stakes battle, this time over who owns the rights to the crime drama's screenplay. The 1995 film, remembered for bringing Al Pacino and Robert De Niro together on screen, has become the subject of a legal dispute that could have implications for projects derived from the original.
The development comes as Mann prepares to return to the world of Heat with its much-anticipated follow-up. The filmmaker, who wrote and directed the original, is also set to helm Heat 2, based on the 2022 novel he co-wrote with Meg Gardiner. The new film is structured as both a prequel and a sequel, exploring events before and after the story of the original.
New Regency has now filed a lawsuit against Mann in a federal court in Los Angeles, seeking to retain ownership of the Heat screenplay. In its complaint, the production company has asked the court to declare three notices served by Mann to reclaim the copyright null and void. It is also seeking confirmation that it retains all rights to the screenplay.
At the centre of the dispute is whether Mann wrote the screenplay as an independent author or as a work made for hire. New Regency argues that the screenplay was created under the latter arrangement, citing written agreements that Mann allegedly signed both personally and on behalf of companies he controlled. Under US copyright law, works made for hire are generally excluded from the provision that allows authors to reclaim certain copyright grants after a specified period. The company maintains that Mann's notices are therefore invalid.
According to the lawsuit, Mann served three notices earlier this year seeking to reclaim the copyright to the screenplay and underlying materials. One of these reportedly sought to terminate copyright grants connected to an alleged oral agreement from 1988 involving Mann and two companies he controlled. New Regency argues that the notices have created uncertainty over its ability to develop, finance and license projects based on the screenplay. The company has also pointed to agreements connected to Heat 2 that could be affected by the outcome of the case.
Mann, however, is prepared to contest the claim. A spokesperson for the filmmaker said the dispute concerns original, personal writing that Mann did on several screenplays during the 1980s, which eventually evolved into Heat. “After 40 years, Michael Mann is exercising the right of authors to reclaim their work and, in this case, Michael Mann's original creation,” the spokesperson said, adding that they were confident the courts would uphold the filmmaker's statutory rights under the Copyright Act.
The spokesperson also clarified that the legal action would not affect the production of Heat 2, which is expected to begin filming on January 19, 2027. The sequel will feature a new cast, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Christian Bale among the actors attached to the project. Mann is returning as writer and director.
Released in 1995, Heat starred Pacino as LAPD detective Vincent Hanna and De Niro as professional thief Neil McCauley, with the two actors sharing their first major on-screen confrontation in a celebrated diner sequence. The film went on to become one of Mann's defining works. With the original screenplay now at the centre of a copyright dispute, the court's decision could have wider implications for the ownership and future use of the filmmaker's creation.
