Everyone's favorite freak out actor, Nicolas Cage, is poised to summon his dragon Patronus for a series adaptation of "Artemis Fowl" author Eoin Colfer's novel "Highfire," which is currently in development over at Amazon. Cage will voice the show's lead character, Highfire, who's described as a vodka-drinking, “Flashdance”-loving dragon who lives an isolated existence in the bayous of Louisiana. In addition to his starring role, Cage will also executive produce.
According to the novel's synopsis, "Highfire" recounts the raucous adventures of Highfire, a dragon who after crossing paths with a fifteen-year-old troublemaker is forced to go on the run from a crooked sheriff.
What's that? Do you want to hear more? You do? Well then buckle up!
In the days of yore, he flew the skies and scorched angry mobs—now he hides from swamp tour boats and rises only with the greatest reluctance from his Laz-Z-Boy recliner. Laying low in the bayou, this once-magnificent fire-breather has been reduced to lighting Marlboros with nose sparks, swilling Absolut in a Flashdance T-shirt, and binging Netflix in a fishing shack. For centuries, he struck fear in hearts far and wide as Wyvern, Lord Highfire of the Highfire Eyrie—now he goes by Vern. However…he has survived, unlike the rest. He is the last of his kind, the last dragon. Still, no amount of vodka can drown the loneliness in his molten core. Vern's glory days are long gone. Or are they?
A canny Cajun swamp rat, young Everett "Squib" Moreau does what he can to survive, trying not to break the heart of his saintly single mother. He's finally decided to work for a shady smuggler—but on his first night, he witnesses his boss murdered by a crooked constable.
Regence Hooke is not just a dirty cop, he's a despicable human being—who happens to want Squib's momma in the worst way. When Hooke goes after his hidden witness with a grenade launcher, Squib finds himself airlifted from certain death by…a dragon?
The swamp can make strange bedfellows, and rather than be fried alive so the dragon can keep his secret, Squib strikes a deal with the scaly apex predator. He can act as his go-between (aka familiar)—fetch his vodka, keep him company, etc.—in exchange for protection from Hooke. Soon the three of them are careening headlong toward a combustible confrontation. There's about to be a fiery reckoning, in which either dragons finally go extinct—or Vern's glory days are back.
A triumphant return to the genre-bending fantasy that Eoin Colfer is so well known for, Highfire is an effortlessly clever and relentlessly funny tour-de-force of comedy and action.
Davey Holmes is adapting the book for Amazon and will executive produce alongside Cage and Andrew Mittman of 1.21.
Most recently, Cage completed work on Dimitri Leotheis' JIU JITSU, a new Sci-Fi Martial Arts franchise in which the actor stars as Wylie. The upcoming series also stars silver screen badasses Frank Grillo, Tony Jaa, Rick Yune, Juju Chan, and Marie Avgeropoulos. Cage is also set to play Joe Schreibvogel, a.k.a Joe Exotic, for CBS Television Studios and Imagine Television Studios' scripted series based on the controversial figure from Netflix's docuseries Tiger King.
Heed my words, friends. You can never keep a good Cage down! It's just a fact of life at this point, right? Good on you, Mr. Cage. Please, for the love of all that is good in this world, keep doing what you do.