Christian Bale is reportedly taking over Al Pacino's role in Heat 2

Now, we’re starting to get a clearer picture on how this is all going to shake out—including reports from The Wrap stating that stars Christian Bale and Leonardo DiCaprio, who’ve been circling the film for the last several months, have either signed, or are very close to signing, on for two specific roles. In Bale’s case, that would be the part of detective Vincent Hanna, and in DiCaprio’s, thief Chris Shiherlis—meaning the two Oscar winners are about to set themselves on a direct collision course with the legacies of Al Pacino and Val Kilmer, respectively.

Those are some pretty heady comparisons, although Bale and DiCaprio—who’ve shared a lot of directors and accolades with Pacino and the late Kilmer over the years—are obviously heavyweights in their own rights at this point. Meanwhile, Heat 2 still has one big question mark hanging over it, in the form of professional robber Neil McCauley, played by Robert De Niro in the original film; The Wrap suggests Adolescence‘s Stephen Graham is in talks for the part, which feels like a wider departure than either Bale-as-Pacino or DiCaprio-as-Kilmer. Meanwhile, Adam Driver is reportedly in talks for the film’s villain, the leader of a violent gang of home invaders who haunts Hanna through each of the novel’s multiple eras.

Heat 2 is reportedly set to begin filming in November; the film is being produced by Amazon MGM, with Mann directing from a script he wrote based on the novel, co-written with Meg Gardiner.