Two of Nicolas Cage’s more beloved properties, Face/Off and the National Treasure franchise, are confirmed to be getting revivals for a new generation, but as far as whether we can expect Cage himself to appear, he claims that he has yet to be approached. Disney+ is developing the National Treasure TV series, which is said to be an “extension” of the film series, while the upcoming Face/Off is expected to be a sequel. In this regard, it’s hard to imagine a sequel where Cage wouldn’t appear, though it’s possible the project from writer Simon Barrett and director Adam Wingard is in early enough stages that it hasn’t been discussed with Cage yet.
“I have not heard hide nor hair about it,” Cage shared with The Hollywood Reporter about the Face/Off follow-up. “So often these things we read about are just conjecture without any base or foundation to it. I feel the same about National Treasure 3. It’s been 14 years. There’s no there, there. So, is it fun to think about? Sure. Would [Face/Off 2] be an exciting movie to make? Oh, hell yeah. But John Woo was such a huge voice in that movie. It couldn’t be a remake. I think these filmmakers even said as much — that something like that would have to be a sequel.”
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Good news for both Cage and Face/Off fans, a sequel is exactly the route that the filmmakers are taking. Last year, Barrett addressed the status of the project, while also noting that the face-swapping concept he and Wingard had conceived of makes it a difficult narrative to keep track of, at times.
“Face/Off 2ย remains in healthy, active development. We have a script, we are rewriting our script, and I think we are really excited about the direction we’re taking the rewrite. But we’ve got Neil Moritz and Paramount behind us and, so far, they keep giving us somewhat befuddled, but genuinely enthusiastic thumbs up, every step of the way,” Barrett confirmed with ComicBook.com. “I want to say something that people haven’t mentioned yet. It took Adam and I two years to pitchย Face/Off 2, because our pitch was so confusing, that [the studio] just kept saying, ‘We think we like what you’re saying, but can you just explain who’s got whose face on in this scene?’ Ultimately, it was only when they actually paid us to write a 35-page treatment that I think everyone really understood what we were proposing.ย There’s a lot of enthusiasm at the studio level, which I’m not used to. I think that has a little bit to do with my friend Adam’s recent monster movie’s [Godzilla vs. Kong] success in theaters this year. But you never know, you never know.”
Stay tuned for details on the future of the Face/Off and National Treasure franchises.
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