Al Pacino Says ‘Wonderful Actor’ Timothée Chalamet Should Play Him in a Potential ‘Heat’ Prequel

Al Pacino is clearly impressed by Timothée Chalamet.

While speaking on a panel at the Tribeca Film Festival, the 82-year-old cinema legend addressed a hypothetical onscreen follow-up to 1995’s Heat, the acclaimed crime drama in which Pacino played detective Vincent Hanna. Fans have been calling for a second installment ever since writer-director Michael Mann confirmed he would publish Heat 2, a prequel/sequel novel that’s slated to hit shelves in August.

Though it’s unclear if the book will ever get the film treatment, Pacino was asked which young actor he’d like to see take on the Hanna role.

“Timothée Chalamet,” Pacino said during the Friday Q&A, as reported by Variety. “I mean, he’s a wonderful actor. Great looks.” The outlet wrote that this recommendation “was met with bursting applause.”

The original Heat co-starred Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Natalie Portman, Ashley Judd, and Robert De Niro, who also participated in the Friday’s panel alongside producer Art Linson. The event was supposed to coincide with the movie’s 25th anniversary, but was delayed a couple of years due to the pandemic.

De Niro, who played ex-Alcatraz inmate Neil McCauley in the ’90s flick, didn’t say which actor he’d like to see take over his role.

Mann wrote his Heat 2 book alongside award-winning author Meg Gardiner. The director, 79, spoke about his debut novel during an interview with Deadline back in January, saying the book will trace the characters’ lives before and after the events of the film. 

“It’s been my intention for a long time to do the further stories of Heat,” he told the outlet. “There was always a rich history or back-story about the events in these people’s lives before 1995 in Heat and projection of where their lives would take them after.”

Heat 2 will hit shelves Aug. 9 via HarperCollins.