Ahead of 'Heat 2,' Michael Mann's Infamous Cyber Thriller Finds Redemption on Streaming

1 week ago 7

Published Feb 3, 2026, 2:13 PM EST

Rahul Malhotra is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.

He has been writing for Collider for over two years, and has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal to introduce audiences to a whole new world of cinema.

Swing and a miss > measured victory. Also, #JusticeForHan. (He/Him).

Director Michael Mann is putting together what could be his biggest, most star-studded film yet. He's on the verge of entering production on the long-awaited Heat 2, a follow-up to his crime classic Heat, which celebrated its 30th anniversary last year. Heat 2 is set to star Leonardo DiCaprio, with Christian Bale, Stephen Graham, and Austin Butler in talks for other roles. While fans of the original await official updates with bated breath, they can revisit one of Mann's recent misfires, Blackhat. Released in 2015, the action-thriller was a box office bomb but has developed a strong cult following over the last decade. This week, it was among HBO Max's most-watched movies worldwide, with Sinners topping the leaderboard.

According to FlixPatrol, Blackhat was the fourth-most-watched movie on HBO Max worldwide, behind Sinners, The Damned, and One Battle After Another. Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, has topped the streaming charts ever since it earned a record-breaking 16 nominations at the Oscars. The horror-thriller grossed around $370 million in its worldwide box office run last year, against a reported budget of $90 million. Blackhat didn't come cheap — the movie reportedly cost $70 million — but it grossed only $20 million worldwide. The movie is now sitting at a 33% critics' score and a 24% audience score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, "Thematically timely but dramatically inert, Blackhat strands Chris Hemsworth in a muddled misfire from director Michael Mann."

Michael Mann Is Coming Off Two Box Office Flops

The film featured Chris Hemsworth in the lead role, shortly after he'd broken out as Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It also featured Oscar-winner Viola Davis; Lust, Caution star Tang Wei; and Mindhunter's Holt McCallany. Blackhat dealt with cyber crime and counterintelligence, but Mann said in an interview following its failure that it might have been ahead of its time. "It's my responsibility. The script was not ready to shoot. The subject may have been ahead of the curve, because there were a number of people who thought this was all fantasy. Wrong. Everything is stone-cold accurate," he said. His last film, the unconventional biopic Ferrari, also failed to recoup its reported $95 million budget at the box office. He would hope that Heat 2 turns things around for him. You can watch Blackhat at home. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.