‘There’s a lot of fertile ground there’: Nicolas Cage compares ‘ping-ponging’ ‘Face/Off’ sequel to 3D chess

Director Adam Wingard may be pre-occupied with the MonsterVerse for the time being as he puts the finishing touches on Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire ahead of its release next summer, but the following project for the filmmaker after that could be the long-awaited sequel to undisputed action classic Face/Off.

While the horror veteran has also been given the green light to begin developing childhood passion project Thundercats as well, the fact Nicolas Cage is talking up the interesting conceit of the follow-up to John Woo’s all-time great does indicate that it might be slightly further along the development process.

That being said, the Academy Award winner did note in an interview with Collider that he hasn’t heard anything for a while, but that could all change once The New Empire is in the can to clear up some time in Wingard’s increasingly busy schedule.

“I think Face/Off is a sequel that lends itself to a lot of twists and turns and unpredictability. It’s almost like if you factor in the idea of offspring and Castor and Sean having children and these children grow up, then it becomes like three-dimensional chess, and then it’s not just the two, John Travolta and myself, it’s four of us ping-ponging and going at different levels, and it becomes even more complex. I think there’s a lot of fertile ground there. I had maybe one meeting in an office, but I haven’t heard anything since, so I don’t know.”

You could easily make the argument that Face/Off doesn’t need a sequel at all, especially when the bar was raised so high by the original. Then again, Cage has been on a roll recently, and there’s going to be plenty of excitement whenever he gets around to inhaling the scenery as Castor Troy for a second time.