“A couple of years ago, the studio maybe would have wanted a hot, young, up-and-coming actor or something.”

Nicolas Cage could be back in Face/Off 2, if the film’s writer/director has his way.

During an interview with Empire Magazine, writer Adam Wingard revealed that the upcoming sequel is all about Nicolas Cage.

“A couple of years ago, the studio maybe would have wanted a hot, young, up-and-coming actor or something,” he explained. “Now, Nicolas Cage is one of the hottest actors in Hollywood again.”

He’s not wrong – Nicolas Cage has quickly returned as one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. A flurry of well-received films such as Pig and The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent has seen the 58-year-old actor become hot property once more, after a slew of low-budget, straight-to-DVD films.

But why is his return to Face/Off 2 so important? After all, his character, Castor Troy, was presumed dead at the end of the original movie. “He’s just having such a moment,” said Wingard. “Even before Pig came out, we saw this as a Nicolas Cage movie. That’s become totally the obvious way to go now.”

At the moment, Cage is yet to officially sign on to the project, but it’s said that Face/Off 2 producer Neal H. Moritz has spoken to him about a potential return. He’ll be getting his hands on the script just as soon as Wingard and co-writer, Simon Barrett are finished with it.

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

It’s certainly quite a task – Face/Off was one of the most over-the-top action flicks of the ’90s, and following up such a massive hit isn’t going to be easy.

“I think we really got it,” he said. “It has been probably the most challenging script we’ve ever worked on, for a lot of reasons. There’s so much pressure in wanting to make sure that it lives up to the legacy of that project. But every draft you have these things that just click in, and you’re like, ‘A-ha! That’s really what Face/Off is!’”

Face/Off 2 has reportedly been in development since as far back as 2019, with Adam Wingard tapped to write the sequel alongside Simon Barrett just last year.