After a five-year hiatus following the back-to-back, poorly received efforts The Black Dahlia and Redacted, Brian De Palma appears to be ready to return to filmmaking with a remake of Heat—and no, not that one. Rather than attempting to redo Michael Mann’s 1995 crime drama (something we’re sure someone else will get around to any month now), De Palma is mounting a relatively less risky update of 1986’s Heat, a thriller made during Burt Reynolds’ ’80s action-comedy apex, when he was always playing a wisecracking cop or thief or thief-cop, usually with a catchy single-monikered name.
The name of Burt’s Heat character, Nick Escalante, may not have the zest of his Stick or Sharky’s Machine protagonists, but he still has plenty of Burt Reynolds swagger: He’s an ex-mercenary working as a bodyguard in Vegas where, as required by most Burt Reynolds ’80s movies, he also hangs with prostitutes. William Goldman, who adapted his own novel for the original movie, has also penned the update, with Jason Statham attached to step into the Reynolds role, which sounds about right. What doesn’t sound right is that the film apparently plans on retaining the name Heat, even though that is clearly ridiculous. (And yes, even Deadline already beat you to the Reheat joke.) We suggest changing it to something less silly, like Punch Vegas.