Adam Wingard cut his teeth in the realms of low budget horror, but based on the early reactions to his latest effort Godzilla vs. Kong, he’s made a seamless transition to the world of expensive and effects-heavy studio blockbusters. The latest chapter in the MonsterVerse is tracking for a record-breaking opening weekend in the COVID-19 era, and if Wonder Woman 1984 and Zack Snyder’s Justice League have been any indication, it’s going to play like gangbusters on HBO Max as well.
The filmmaker has already settled on his next project, too, and it’s proven to be a fairly divisive one. Of course, Wingard knew exactly what he was getting into when he announced his plans to develop a direct sequel to John Woo’s action classic Face/Off, and he’s moved quickly to assuage the many doubters by making it perfectly clear that he wants both Nicolas Cage and John Travolta to return.
Godzilla vs. Kong shows that Wingard has a great handle on how to block and shoot large scale action, but there’s a huge difference between entirely pixelated beasts and the sort of tangible choreography and practical pyrotechnics that made Face/Off so great in the first place. In a recent interview, though, the 38 year-old promised that his new spin on the story is going to be big, epic and thrilling.
“They’re so different. Godzilla vs. Kong is about two icons pairing off against each other. The Face/Off story that I’m telling is much more of a family story. But I’m sure the experience of making this movie will make Face/Off more of an epic movie. I have the knowledge now of how to make a really big, thrilling movie, which will play into it.”
Wingard admitted not too long ago that he’s barely started cracking the script with longtime writing partner Simon Barrett, but his outline has already been approved, so the broad strokes of the story are certainly in place. And while it’s all well and good bringing the original stars back, any Face/Off sequel will be judged on the quality of the action above anything else.
