Face/Off 2 writer wants Nicolas Cage back for sequel now he’s ‘one of the hottest actors in Hollywood again’

‘A couple of years ago, the studio maybe would have wanted a hot, young, up-and-coming actor or something,’ Adam Wingard said

Nicolas Cage’s Hollywood renaissance means he could return for the Face/Off sequel, its writer has said.

Adam Wingard, director of Godzilla vs Kong (2021), is the man charged with reviving the 1997 cult classic starring Cage and John Travolta as a terrorist and FBI agent who swap faces.

Despite Cage’s character seemingly dying in the original movie, Wingard told Empire magazine in a new interview that the star will be resurrected for the sequel.

This, he said, would not have been possible without a resurgence in Cage’s popularity, which has come about following a string of critical successes.

“He’s just having such a moment. Even before Pig came out, we saw this as a Nicolas Cage movie,” Wingard said. “That’s become totally the obvious way to go now.”

Wingard added that “a couple of years ago”, Paramount would have wanted a “hot, young, up-and-coming actor” to star in the movie instead of Cage.

John Travolta and Nicolas Cage in the1997 action film ‘Face/Off' (Stephen Vaughan/Paramount/Touchstone/Kobal/Shutterstock)

“Now, Nicolas Cage is one of the hottest actors in Hollywood again,” the director-writer said.

While Wingard stipulated that the script is not quite finished, Cage told fans last month that he had had calls with producer Neal Moritz about the sequel.

“There have been some phone calls... [Moritz is] one of the true great producers in Hollywood, and they have been making some calls,” Cage said.