Director Adam Wingard wants Nicolas Cage back for Face/Off 2

There are few actors who are having a better year than Nicolas Cage, and as his star power rises again, some directors are looking to seize the opportunity—including Adam Wingard. The Godzilla Vs. Kong director is looking to bring Cage back as Castor Troy for his Face/Off 2.

“We’re really honing in on it,” Wingard tells Empire. “We’re not going to share it until everybody’s like, ‘This is the one.’”

John Woo directed the original 1997 feature starring Cage and John Travolta, who play a mobster and cop who not only trade places, but also faces. Despite Troy’s apparent death in the first film, Wingard says he’s absolutely looking to revive the character for the sequel.

“He’s just having such a moment. Even before Pig came out, we saw this as a Nicolas Cage movie,” Wingard says. “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.”

Despite the change in directors and several decades of passed time between the original and the slated sequel, Wingard says he and longtime collaborator Simon Barrett are looking to live up to fan’s expectations.

“There’s so much pressure in wanting to make sure that it lives up to the legacy of that project,” Wingard says. “But every draft you have these things that just click in, and you’re like, ‘A-ha! That’s really what Face/Off is!’”

Following buzzy projects such as Pig and The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent, Cage is as in-demand as he ever was. In 2023, he’ll also appear as Dracula himself in Renfield. He’s also got two Westerns on the frontier: The Old Way and Butcher’s Crossing.