Nicolas Cage is nothing if not consistent — he always finds a way to take his crazy antics to the next level. The actor one-upped himself again today when he revealed to with Empire (via FilmDrunk) that he’d like to reprise his role from the disastrous Neil LaBute-directed 2006 remake of The Wicker Man. Only this time it’s set in Japan. And he’s a ghost. (Sorry for the plot spoiler, but, yes, Cage’s character suffers a horrible, bee-related death in the original. I just saved you two hours of your life. You’re welcome.) He even has a helmer in mind: “I would like to hook up with one of the great Japanese filmmakers, like the master that made Ringu.” Hideo Nakata, that is.
Coincidentally, the news comes at a time when Cage’s career is being honored at a Toronto International Film Festival retrospective, which kicks off this week with a screening of his 1983 teen rom-com Valley Girl. If the event accomplishes anything, it will remind movie goers of how far the actor has strayed from a time when he worked with the likes of the Coen brothers and Charlie Kaufman — which is to say, a time when his ambitions probably reached beyond playing a motorcycle-riding skeleton.
Whether or not his Wicker Man sequel will come true remains to be seen. So far, there are no clues to validate this impending career mistake, but considering Cage’s track record of general cinematic weirdness (the aforementioned Ghost Rider and its upcoming sequel, Season of the Witch, Drive Angry, and possibly Bruce McDonald’s thriller Dark Highway), I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened.
Do you think this film will actually happen? If so, would you want to see it?