A Pacino-De Niro reunion? Without Michael Mann???

IMDb reports that Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are going to star together in the upcoming film Righteous Kill—and already the buzz is about how the two megastars are going to star together throughout the entire film. This particular point was highlighted by the producers because at only one other time in movie history did Pacino and De Niro share a scene together, and that was in Michael Mann's 1995 crime epic Heat (though the two did star together in The Godfather, Part II many years before, but never shared any screen time).

Not to be cynical, but having the two star together throughout an entire movie won't, at least to my mind, outdo the sheer power and magic of their two scenes in Heat. Which make me wonder if the producers of Righteous Kill purposely set out to surpass Heat's legendary pairing of Pacino and De Niro. Call me a purist, if you will, but there was something so wondrous about the coffee shop scene in Heat, where cop and robber come to understand that they're very much alike in their devotion to their chosen paths, with the full understanding that the next time they meet, it won't be under such peaceful circumstances.

Their other shared scene was at the very end of the movie (so don't watch if you don't want the ending ruined). This scene I found equally as powerful, with De Niro's dying words echoing their sentiments from the coffee shop. That, plus Pacino and De Niro's near-silent cat-and-mouse game creates an endless feeling of suspense.

Could any movie, Righteous Kill or otherwise, outdo these two scenes? Personally, I think that would be a tall order. Heat was just a movie that was tailor-made for these two actors, and filmed by a master filmmaker, so the bar is already pretty high. Then again, I could be proven wrong, and Righteous Kill could prove to be as wonderful as Heat. Only time will tell on that one, though it also strikes me as inevitable that, well before Righteous Kill's release, endless comparisons will be drawn between this and Heat.