Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in 'Heat' (1995). Warner Brothers/Courtesy Everett Collection New Regency is suing Michael Mann to reassert its ownership over Heat ahead of the high-profile follow-up to the 1995 crime drama classic.
In a lawsuit filed on Friday in California federal court, New Regency argues that Mann can’t exploit a provision in copyright law that allows creators to claw back ownership of their works after a certain period of time. It seeks a court order clarifying that it retains the rights to the screenplay for Heat.
“The Screenplay is not subject to termination,” states the complaint.
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In a statement, a spokesperson for Mann said the director is “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,” the spokesperson added. “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 filing comes ahead Mann preparing to film Heat 2, a sequel starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro and the late Val Kilmer. The upcoming film is based on Mann’s 2022 novel of the same name, which serves as both a prequel and sequel to the original.
More to come.
Read Mann’s full statement below:
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.
We will vigorously defend this action and are confident that the courts will vindicate Michael Mann’s statutory rights under the Copyright Act.
For clarification, this is unrelated to production of Heat 2 which will begin shooting on January 19.
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