Marking only his second foray behind the camera in a decade, Nicolas Cage is poised to assume directorial duties on indie love thriller Vengeance: A Love Story.
That’s according to Variety, revealing that Cage will replace Harold Becker in the director’s chair. Having only been attached to the project last month, it’s an early departure for Becker. Back then, Nicolas Cage was on board to star in the adaptation, though the A-lister is now primed to helm his first feature film since 2002’s widely derided Sonny.
John Mankiewicz (House, House of Cards) is lending his hand to adapt Joyce Carol Oates’s 2003 novel, which goes by the more startling title Rape: A Love Story, and will tell the tale of Teena Maguire, a 30-year-old single mother who was brutally gang raped and left for dead at the hands of deranged meth heads. Witnessed by her daughter, Bethie, the ordeal then becomes top priority for Police Detective John Dromoor (Nicolas Cage).
Touching base on his role behind and in front of the lens, Cage offered a statement revealing his own excitement to work on Vengeance: A Love Story:
“I’m excited to work on Vengeance: A Love Story and bring Joyce Carol Oates’ bittersweet novel to the screen. Storytelling has always been my passion and I’m honored to work with this talented team to tell a tale of the suffering too many women have endured.”
Vengeance: A Love Story will be lifted from the pages and into production on April 4 ahead of a release later in 2016.
