LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The stars and director the 1995 heist thriller "Heat" are in talks to contribute to a videogame spin-off, according to the project's developers.

The film starred Al Pacino and Robert De Niro as characters on the opposite side of the law, and included the first scene in which the two actors ever appeared together.

Val Kilmer also starred in the film, which was directed by Michael Mann.

The videogame is expected to be confirmed Wednesday at the Electronic Entertainment Expo underway in Los Angeles.

Offering single-player and multiplayer first-person shooter action set in the film's world, it is being targeted for next-generation consoles by late 2007. "Heat" producer Regency Entertainment, Titan Prods. and video game developer Gearbox Software are developing the project.

The game will either be a prequel or a sequel to the film, said Brad Foxhoven, president and co-founder of Titan. If it is a sequel, De Niro will appear in flashback since his bank robber character was killed in the film.

Should Pacino come aboard, his character will hunt down a new heist crew. If he doesn't, a new character will step into the role and track down the new crew.

Foxhoven said De Niro would potentially be used in the game through flashbacks and training levels. Kilmer's character would be able to interact with the crew directly because he survived the shootout at the film's end.

Gearbox president Randy Pitchford said the challenge is to avoid merely retreading the space the film already covered, but to let players choose their own paths and make their own decisions that the characters in the film didn't have to make or perhaps wouldn't have made if they got into the situations the game is going to create.

"There is something about this concept that I call 'hard core heist' that has never really been done well in a video game, yet everyone on the planet has thought about robbing a bank or something at one time or another," Pitchford said. "'Heat' pretty much defined what hard core heist means and it gives us a narrative mechanism to consider both sides."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter