Michael Mann’s legal battle over ‘Heat’ rights: Will it affect sequel?

Heat 2, a long-anticipated project, has locked in its key roles for production; however, its director, Michael Mann, is embroiled in a legal battle.

The dispute has been described as being over who holds the rights to the original Heat.

According to Mann, he wrote and directed the 1995 movie and entered an agreement with New Regency – a production company that produced Heat – to have a certain right over the screenplay.

Now, under US copyright law, the filmmaker is seeking to regain what he claims to be his original screenplay.

The law states the authors can, in certain circumstances, get control of their work after 35 years.

However, New Regency disputes Mann’s version of events in a filing through his attorneys earlier this year.

In its filing, the company alleged the director was hired to write the screenplay, not the other way around, and claimed he had been the original owner.

In response, Mann’s lawyers issued a lengthy statement, stating, “We will vigorously defend this action and are confident that the courts will vindicate Michael Mann’s statutory rights under the Copyright Act.”

“This filing has to do with original and personal writing Michael Mann did on multiple screenplays during the 1980s and which evolved into the iconic 1995 film ‘Heat’ that Mann wrote, produced and directed. After 40 years Michael Mann is exercising the right of authors to reclaim their work and, in this case, Michael Mann’s original creation.”

However, is this legal? Could the Imbroglio affect the sequel to Heat?

Apparently no, according to Variety, as the shooting is set to take place in January.