Heat director Michael Mann accidentally shoots himself in leg on gun range

Oscar-nominated director Michael Mann was hospitalised on Saturday (October 31) after accidentally shooting himself in the leg.

The accident occurred while Mann, who has directed 14 feature films including 1995’s crime thriller Heat and 2001’s Muhammad Ali biopic Ali, was at a gun range in Los Angeles.

A representative for the filmmaker told The Hollywood Reporter: “On Saturday, at a gun range, a weapon accidentally discharged while holstered resulting in a superficial injury to film director Michael Mann. He was treated and is being released.”

According to TMZ, which first reported the accident, the director was trying to secure the firearm to his body when it unexpectedly went off. Mann, 83, is reported by the publication to have been an “experienced target shooter for decades”.

The Los Angeles Police Department has confirmed that the incident took place at 4pm on Saturday and told The Hollywood Reporter: “Responding units’ investigation determined the shooting to be accidental. The subject was transported to a local hospital in stable condition.”

Mann is currently working on a sequel to 1995’s Heat, his revered crime movie starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Ashley Judd, Jon Voight and Val Kilmer. He said in September 2025 that he was looking forward to “possibly shooting it” this year, but the sequel, which is based on his own 2022 novel, is still believed to be in the pre-production stage.

Speaking to NME in 2023 about the first film’s legacy, Mann noted that Heat is “a huge brand”, adding: “There’s some studies that I’ve done within the industry… people are kind of getting tired of superhero movies and are becoming more interested in pictures like Heat, if you like.

“But it’s been a huge brand in Warner Brothers home video for the last 20 years in terms of rentals. So we found that out when I wrote Heat 2, the novel… it was the first week out, it was instantly a number one New York Times bestseller.”