Michael Mann “Bored” By “Stale” Modern Action Films, Explains Why ‘Heat 2’ Adaptation Needs To Be On The Big Screen

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic In the era where content is king, Sam Mendes still believes in moving pictures. “Empire of Light” is the proof. While the world was in lockdown these past couple years, Mendes let his imagination run to his happy place: a grand old English movie palace he dubbed the Empire Cinema. Thousands pass through its Art Deco doors seeking escapism, but Mendes is more interested in the employees — the projectionist, the ticket-takers, the box office attendant and so forth, who collectively form an ersatz family — whose stories, he senses, are every bit as interesting as the ones they show. And so he put them up on screen where they belong. But “Empire of Light” is more than just Mendes’ homage to an endangered art form — in fact, it spends a lot less time valorizing the medium than you might imagine. He has assembled a terrific cast, trusting that these performers can go deeper than their dialogue makes explicit, whether it’s Olivia Colman (who can do anything) as the romantically frustrated theater manager Hilary or relative newcomer (and “Blue Story” breakout) Micheal Ward as Stephen, Mr. Ellis’ latest hire (in an unusually sleazy cameo, Colin Firth plays the boss).

The Crown.  She and an actor playing Prince William were both picked for the coveted Netflix roles after submitting self-taped auditions for a casting call put out on social media.  The couple now known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will appear in semi-fictionalised form in the Netflix drama, which will follow the young William through the most traumatic period of his life as a teenager to meeting his wife.

Anna Faris will return to the silver screen for the first time in four years in November with the release of, a sister comedy produced by Sarah Jessica Parker. ET has an exclusive first look at the trailer. Faris stars alongside Toni Collette as two sisters who attempt to get back into the good graces of their wealthy, estranged aunt, Hilda (Kathleen Turner), when they discover she is gravely ill.

EXCLUSIVE: Italian firm Iervolino and Monika Bacardi Entertainment has boarded Michael Mann’s big canvas car racing drama Ferrari.

To mark National Cinema Day on Saturday, September 3, Vue is inviting film fans nationwide to enjoy the best seats, screen, and brilliant sound of the big screen experience, for just £3 per ticket*.

There's nothing better than watching a movie or a big sporting fixture on a big screen. But big-screen TVs take up huge amounts of space and cost a small fortune.

In the year 2000, the late literary critic Robin Wood put forth the concept of “hysterical realism,” a then-emergent micro-genre in which the delirious overstimulation of modern life is expressed through a hoarder-caliber accumulation of detail. At the time, he was talking about the likes of Thomas Pynchon, David Foster Wallace, and Zadie Smith, and their doorstopper works’ endless minutiae on land surveying or tennis strategy or the ethics of lab rat usage.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Michael Mann is having quite a week.

Yesterday was a good one for filmmaker Michael Mann. He began production in Italy on Ferrari, and learned that his first novel landed atop The New York Times Bestseller hardcover list. Heat 2 fleshes out the events before and after Mann’s 1995 crime classic Heat, and lands atop the NYT list in its first week in publication. Mann wrote his novel debut with co-writer Meg Gardiner in a book published through Mann’s William Morrow imprint. Heat 2 is the first book in a three book multi-million dollar deal between Michael Mann books and the Harper Collins division, In a Deadline feature on the book last week, Mann said that he plans to lean into continuing the crime story, which in the present focuses on the criminal exploits of Chris Shiherlis, played by Val Kilmer in the original film, and Detective Vincent Hanna, played by Al Pacino in the film. Mann hopes to adapt Heat 2 into a theatrical feature, after he completes Ferrari with Adam Driver, Penelope Cruz and Shailene Woodley starring.

#FerrariMovie @FerrariMovie pic.twitter.com/aUOr5C0U4G“Ferrari” is set during the summer of 1957. Ex-racecar driver Enzo Ferrari is in crisis. Bankruptcy stalks the company he and his wife, Laura, built from nothing 10 years earlier.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 races back to Number 1 on the Official Film Chart.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentPenelope Cruz and Adam Driver, who are both expected to be attending the upcoming Venice Film Festival, are already in Italy shooting Micheal Mann’s long-gestating “Ferrari” drama, in which Cruz appears as the wife of auto racing impresario Enzo Ferrari, played by Driver.First images are surfacing of Cruz (see above photo) as Ferrari’s wife Laura after cameras started rolling Aug. 1 in central Italy.The big-budget biopic kicked off physical production in the town of Maranello, known worldwide as the home of Ferrari and the iconic car’s Formula One racing team.

Leonardo DiCaprio almost played one of Hollywood’s iconic legends on the big screen.

Anne Heche has had a long and successful career in Hollywood, but her personal life has been full of tragedy.

Leonardo DiCaprio almost got the chance to play the iconic and gone-before-his-time movie heartthrob James Dean. However, the superstar was apparently just too young for the role.In a recent interview with, director Michael Mann revealed that, before he helmed his 1995 crime classic, he was attached to direct a biopic about the star's short but intense life.«It was a brilliant screenplay.

Leonardo DiCaprio was almost cast as James Dean in a biopic after an “amazing” screen test aged 19.Director Michael Mann revealed there was a “brilliant screenplay” about the late actor which he was going to direct before 1995’s Heat, but he moved onto the crime epic because his choice for the role, DiCaprio, was “too young” for the part.Speaking to Deadline, Mann said: “That was so weird about James Dean. It was a brilliant screenplay. And then it’s who the hell could play James Dean? And I found a chap who could play James Dean, but he was too young.