Let’s face it. Nicolas Cage isn’t so much a movie star anymore as a continual riff on his own persona, selling movie after movie on his crazy-wigged eccentricity and personality. The idea of him playing characters has long gone out the window as these days, he pretty much just plays Nic Cage whether in a medieval flick like “Season Of The Witch” or a 3D throwaway B-movie like “Drive Angry.” Meanwhile, John Travolta has been vacillating between dumb family fare like “Wild Hogs” or “Old Dogs” while trying to scowl convincingly as a bad guy in action flicks like “The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3” and “From Paris With Love.” Wherever their careers are now, the duo teamed up to deliver one of the great, big dumb, yet totally awesome action flicks of the 1990s, John Woo‘s “Face/Off” so it’s a little exciting (in a nostalgic sort of way) that the two are looking team up again.
Vulture reports that Cage/Travolta are looking to reunite on a pair of projects. First up on their radar is “Shrapnel” which, if you might recall, had John McTiernan attached to direct last year. He’s currently facing a year in jail and is out on bail while he appeals, so he won’t be directing, but it’s pretty easy to see why the actors want to make this one. The Black List approved script by Evan Daugherty (“Snow White And The Huntsman“) is basically another “Face/Off” but this time centering on a former Bosnian soldier who enters a deadly game of cat and mouse as he seeks vengeance against the American solider who wounded him. If this all comes together, it will start shooting in June.
The other film catching the pair’s eyes is “Sea Trial” written by Raymond De Felitta (“City Island“). Based on the novel by his dad Frank, the thriller is set on a yacht and follows a pair of couples on what is supposed to be a romantic cruise, only for things to turn deadly when one couple isn’t all that they seem. This one is still putting financing together, but clearly, Cage/Travolta really just want to chase each other around in movies. And you know what? We wouldn’t mind watching it either, as there is a certain joy in watching both of them go fully over-the-top. And hell, after this, maybe we’ll just give that bonkers “Face/Off” another spin this weekend.
