Face/Off sequel director describes film as a Nicolas Cage movie

The most recent Nicolas Cage movie, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent – in which Cage plays a fictional version of himself – is now available on digital… and if director Adam Wingard gets his way, one of the next Cage movies we’ll have to look forward to is Face/Off 2. Wingard was hired to direct the Face/Off sequel at the start of 2021, and in a new interview Empire he has confirmed that the project is still in the works. And it’s being written with Cage in mind.

Wingard called the Face/Off 2 he’s crafting with screenwriter Simon Barrett “an absolute sequel” to John Woo’s 1997 original (watch it HERE), and

it has been probably the most challenging script we’ve ever worked on, for a lot of reasons. There’s so much pressure in wanting to make sure that it lives up to the legacy of that project. But every draft you have these things that just click in, and you’re like, ‘A-ha! That’s really what Face/Off is!'”

Once Wingard and Barrett have the script in satisfactory shape, it will be sent off to Cage to see if it meets his approval. Wingard said,

He’s just having such a moment. Even before Pig came out, we saw this as a Nicolas Cage movie. That’s become totally the obvious way to go now. A couple of years ago, the studio maybe would have wanted a hot, young, up-and-coming actor or something. Now, Nicolas Cage is one of the hottest actors in Hollywood again.”

Scripted by Mike Werb and Michael Colleary, the original Face/Off centered on 

FBI agent Sean Archer. He is so obsessed with catching a homicidal sociopath named Castor Troy, who is responsible for killing the fed’s son, that the agent undergoes facial transplant surgery and takes the mug of his nemesis so he can be sent to prison to find out a bomb’s whereabouts and stop an attack. The plan goes awry when the bad guy wakes up and takes the face of the FBI agent. Soon, the new-faced Castor visits the agent with the villainous face and takes glee in taunting him, telling him that the face surgeons have been killed, that the good guy is stuck looking in the mirror at the face he hates most, and that the villain is going home to bed his wife and take over his home life. It escalates into a series of choreographed action sequences. 

Neal Moritz is producing Wingard’s Face/Off sequel, with David Permut executive producing.

Are you looking forward to a Face/Off 2 that’s directed by Adam Wingard and stars Nicolas Cage? Share your thoughts on this project by leaving a comment below.