New Regency sues Michael Mann as he seeks to reclaim 'Heat' rights

New Regency sued Michael Mann in California federal court Friday to stop him reclaiming copyright in his screenplay for "Heat," the 1995 crime film the company produced.

The company says Mann wrote the script as a work made for hire, a status that would prevent him from terminating the copyright grant.

In its complaint, New Regency likens Mann to "a Shakespearean actor playing multiple parts," saying he allegedly made the oral agreement behind his claim with himself.

The dispute also touches the sequel. The complaint says "certain provisions of the agreements that Mann and Regency each entered into with Amazon with respect to Heat 2 depend on the outcome of this litigation." Mann has assigned Amazon any rights he might recover, the complaint adds.

"After 40 years Michael Mann is exercising the right of authors to reclaim their work and in this case Michael Mann's original creation," a spokesperson for Mann said.

"We will vigorously defend this action and are confident that the courts will vindicate Michael Mann's statutory rights under the Copyright Act," the spokesperson said. Mann maintains that he wrote the "Heat" materials as an independent author, not an employee, The Hollywood Reporter reported.

The Copyright Act allows authors to terminate rights assignments after 35 years. Works made for hire have different rules. The law generally treats the employer as their author rather than the writer, meaning those copyrights cannot ordinarily be reclaimed.

The disputed agreements

Mann served New Regency with three notices earlier this year seeking to recover the screenplay and underlying material. The company wants the court to declare each notice null and void.

The complaint describes the screenplay's work-for-hire designation as "a fact that Mann stated repeatedly in written agreements that he personally signed, both on his own behalf and on behalf of companies that he controlled," TheWrap reported.

In 1994, Warner Bros. obtained rights to the screenplay through a deal with Mann's loan-out company, the suit says. New Regency alleges that the deal expressly established a work made for hire rather than transferring rights, so it cannot be terminated.

Mann's lawyers initially told New Regency this year that he transferred his rights to his loan-out companies in 1988, according to the suit. The company says it requested a copy and was told the deal had been made orally.

Mann later told New Regency that the transfer was never formally documented and that he had only recently learned of it, the complaint says. The suit says his first notice sought to end all copyright grants for "Heat," including the alleged 1988 oral deal involving Mann and two companies he controlled.

Mann cited other agreements in two later notices in 2026, which New Regency also says are invalid.

"The Termination Notices cloud Regency's title to the Screenplay and impair its ability to develop, finance, and license works derived from it," the complaint says.

Sequel production

Mann's spokesperson said production of "Heat 2" is separate from the lawsuit. Warner Bros. had originally planned to produce the sequel but withdrew last year, and Amazon MGM Studios acquired it.

The complaint says Mann and New Regency each have Amazon agreements that account for the copyright dispute. Variety reported that the sequel should be unaffected regardless of the case's outcome.

Mann will write and direct "Heat 2," adapting the 2022 novel of the same name he wrote with Meg Gardiner. The story spans events before and after the 1995 film, which starred Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.

Shooting is scheduled to start Jan. 19, 2027.