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Face/Off 2 Director Says Cage & Travolta Are In Talks To Return
Face/Off 2 director Adam Wingard says the original's stars Nicolas Cage and John Travolta are on board to return if they're happy with his script. Wingard, who is currently doing the rounds promoting his biggest directorial effort yet, Godzilla vs. Kong, was accounced as the Face/Off movie reboot director earlier this year. He quickly dispelled the notion that the movie would be a remake, as had long been rumored, clarifying his Face/Off will be a direct sequel. That means the reunion of the original's stars, Nicolas Cage and John Travolta.
The pair, who were both riding a wave of mainstream popularity when they were cast in John Woo's 1997 Face/Off, were pitted against each other in the overblown action movie. The central concept of the movie, of Travolta's Sean Archer taking Cage's Castor Troy's face, and vice versa, sounded insane on paper, and frankly was fairly insane in execution, but somehow managed to overcome that ridiculous premise to become one of the biggest action movies of the 1990s. As a result, a remake has been rumored for years, and as recently as late 2019, a Face/Off reboot was being developed by 22 Jump Street writer Oren Uziel. One assumes that take would have been similar to the comedic Jump Street reboot, taking a humorous approach to the material with an entirely new cast. But Wingard is now on board, and is making his direct sequel, and it is set to include the original cast.
Speaking to Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Wingard says that both of the original stars are interested in returning for his sequel, having seen his story outline. However, he cautions that both actors have script approval, meaning they'll have to be happy with what he and co-writer Simon Barrett produce before they sign on. Wingard also reiterates that he's making a direct sequel, focused on the characters rather than just the face swapping procedure, making it clear he's determined to get the original stars on board. You can read his full comments below:
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Some people just assume when I say that that it just means it takes place in the world of Face/Off. To me, Face/Off isn’t about a procedure or anything like that. It’s not about the world that the characters exist in. It’s about Sean Archer and it’s about Castor Troy. That’s what this movie is about. It’s the continuation of that story. It’s hard to talk about other than that but this is, to me, the definitive continuation of that saga. We’re still writing the script so it’s still in early phases. Simon [Barrett] and I are very close to turning in our draft to Paramount soon. We’ll have to get over those hurdles of do they like this movie? They’ve read our outline. Everybody’s on board with it but actually turning in the script’s a different thing so we’ll see how everybody reacts to it. This is a story about Sean Archer and Castor Troy. To stick with that, the story is leading us in a very specific direction.
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The news should be exciting for fans of the original, as the movie's success was made, largely, thanks to the on-screen chemistry of two actors who were doing their best to out-act each other. Hopefully Wingard and Barrett can pull off a high-quality script and get the approval of both stars, and it would be a great hit of 90s nostalgia to see them going toe-to-toe again. Of course, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Travolta and Cage are keen to return for the sequel.
Both actors have long passed the height of their careers. Cage in particular, seems to have spent the past few years starring in a series of shlocky B-grade movies like Willy's Wonderland, and Travolta's last few starring vehicles have been bombs. Both men will be hoping that can recapture some of their former A-list glory, and the Face/Off sequel seems like the perfect chance for them to do so. Hopefully it all comes together.
