A year has already passed since it was announced that Godzilla vs. Kong director Adam Wingard and his frequent collaborator Simon Barrett (You’re Next, The Guest) were developing a “direct sequel” to John Woo’s 1997 sci-fi action classic Face/Off (watch it HERE). Back then, Wingard and Barrett were said to be in the final phases of writing their first draft of the script – but whatever progress they’ve been making on the script, original Face/Off star Nicolas Cage hasn’t been made aware of it.
The Face/Off sequel came up while Cage was being interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter:
THR: One film that’s referenced a few times in the film is 1997’s Face/Off, which is such a fan favorite. There’s been recent talk of a sequel, and that there’s a script reportedly in the works with writer Simon Barrett and director Adam Wingard attached. Is that a story you would like to revisit?
Cage: I have not heard hide nor hair about it. So often these things we read about are just conjecture without any base or foundation to it. I feel the same about National Treasure 3. It’s been 14 years. There’s no there, there. So, is it fun to think about? Sure. Would [Face/Off 2] be an exciting movie to make? Oh, hell yeah. But John Woo was such a huge voice in that movie. It couldn’t be a remake. I think these filmmakers even said as much — that something like that would have to be a sequel.
Wingard had previously said that there’s interest in bringing both Cage and his Face/Off co-star John Travolta back for the sequel, and that the pair even has script approval. So if they want to get this thing moving forward any time soon, they better get a copy of that script sent over to Cage.
Scripted by Mike Werb and Michael Colleary, the original Face/Off centered on
FBI agent Sean Archer. He is so obsessed with catching a homicidal sociopath named Castor Troy, who is responsible for killing the fed’s son, that the agent undergoes facial transplant surgery and takes the mug of his nemesis so he can be sent to prison to find out a bomb’s whereabouts and stop an attack. The plan goes awry when the bad guy wakes up and takes the face of the FBI agent. Soon, the new-faced Castor visits the agent with the villainous face and takes glee in taunting him, telling him that the face surgeons have been killed, that the good guy is stuck looking in the mirror at the face he hates most, and that the villain is going home to bed his wife and take over his home life. It escalates into a series of choreographed action sequences.
Neal Moritz is producing Wingard’s Face/Off sequel, with David Permut executive producing.