There is no greater praise for an actor to receive than that from a Hollywood legend, and Timothée Chalamet may well have received one of the coolest co-signs of all. This past weekend, at a premiere screening of a new restored version of the 1995 classic Heat, the film’s original star Al Pacino revealed he’d like the Dune actor to assume the role of Lt. Hanna if the series were to come back and require a younger actor for the part. “I mean, he’s a wonderful actor,” Al said at the screening. “Great looks.”
Based on an original story by writer-director Michael Mann (the action king also known for Miami Vice and The Last of the Mohicans), Heat follows Al Pacino’s LAPD detective lead as he vows to track down a prolific robber, played by Robert DeNiro. It’s widely cited as one of the best films of all time, and fans of it have been anticipating a sequel.
But instead of going down the movie route for its follow-up, Michael Mann has been working on a novel that takes us into the past of his Heat protagonists, and catches up with how their lives have changed since. It is, quite admirably, just called Heat 2.
That time shift means that there’s a strong likelihood Timmy could play Lt Hanna in the next instalment in the Heat universe. It would suit him well: combining the inquisitiveness of his Call Me by Your Name character with the stoicism of Dune’s Paul Atreides. And with the approval of Al Pacino, it sets him up pretty well.
Of course, the next project we’re going to see Timothée in will be Luca Guadagnino’s cannibal romance Bones & All later this year, followed by his return to the Dune world in the film’s second instalment, due October 2023. Then, two months later, his turn as Wonka in the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory spin-off, which is now slated for a Christmas release.
After that? Well, he’s still got to start work on that oft-delayed Bob Dylan biopic, but surely there’s time for another movie in there too. Michael Mann, get TC’s agent on the phone stat: we want to see him in brooding detective mode before 2024 is out.