Michael Mann fans got quite a nice surprise at a sold-out American Cinematheque showing of Miami Vice on Saturday when the filmmaker himself turned up to Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre.
Mann joined film writers and critics Katie Walsh and Blake Howard — co-hosts of the Miami Nice podcast that centered on the 2006 Mann feature starring Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell — for a lively post-screening Q&A. According to a source, multiple attendees flew into Los Angeles for the event, and that included Howard. The host of another Mann-focused podcast, One Heat Minute, jetted in for the special screening from his home in Australia. Presented in 35mm, the screening was part of American Cinematheque’s Friends of the Fest series.
Universal Pictures’ Miami Vice follows detectives Ricardo Tubbs (Foxx) and Sonny Crockett (Farrell) as they are asked to investigate the brutal murders of two federal agents. They come to find themselves pulled into the alluring and lethal world of drug traffickers.
In the Q&A, Mann revisited his work on the film and talked in-depth about the inspirations in adapting the iconic TV series and revealed behind-the-scenes production anecdotes, including how they shot the film in the summer which bumped up against one of “the most violent” hurricane seasons of that time period. Per multiple reports, the gathering of cinephiles went wild when Mann turned up, giving the veteran auteur “a hero’s welcome.” According to online clips from the event, he also gave an update on Heat 2, saying that he’s working on the script seven days a week.
Mann during the Q&A.
Cyndee Arroyo for American Cinematheque