Face/Off 2: Everything About This Planned Nicolas Cage Sequel
Face/Off has been confirmed by director Adam Wingard, but there is no set release date for the film.
For the longest time now, we have been hearing that a Face/Off 2 is in the making. At first, we weren’t sure if it would be a remake or a sequel, but it was recently confirmed that it would be a sequel. Then, we weren’t sure if either of the original stars would be returning and while it appears both Nicolas Cage and John Travolta might return, there still hasn’t been any official word given. So, what do we know about Face/Off 2?
DIRECTOR ADAM WINGARD CONFIRMS A SEQUEL
Suddenly (or maybe not so), Face/Off 2 director Adam Wingard has become quite popular. Last year, the 39-year-old director had the smash hit Godzilla vs. Kong, the MonsterVerse movie to end all MonsterVerse movies, which brought in almost $470 million at the box office.
A glance at his resume will show you much of his work falls into the horror genre with A Horrible Way to Die, You’re Next, V/H/S, the Blair Witch remake, and Death Note among his scary titles. None of those movies made a killing at the box office but they were made well enough that Warner Bros. and Legendary handed over the MonsterVerse reins to Wingard. He didn’t disappoint.
It was Wingard who posted to his now-deleted Instagram that he and longtime collaborator Simon Barrett together will be penning Face/Off 2, which Wingard says will neither be a remake nor a reboot. He then told IGN, “I would never make a remake of Face/Off. I would never make a reboot. And I’ve seen a lot of people, even after I said that this is a direct sequel, they keep calling it a reboot hybrid sequel or remake hybrid sequel. It’s none of that. This is Face/Off 2.”
This is fantastic news that Wingard and Barrett appreciate what director John Woo did with the first movie, having no intention of remaking the film.
NIC CAGE SAYS FACE/OFF 2 CAN’T BE A REMAKE
In March 2022, Nicolas Cage was asked by THR about the possibility of sequels to and/or remakes of some of his more popular films, including the reports pointing to Face/Off 2. The actor didn’t completely dismiss the idea, but he did have one caveat — that it couldn’t be a remake.
He said, “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,” Cage insisted. “I think these filmmakers even said as much — that something like that would have to be a sequel.”
Anyone hoping Cage would be appearing in Face/Off 2 may not like what else he had to say. He told THR he had “not heard hide nor hair” about the sequel. He added, “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.”
LEADS FOR FACE/OFF 2
The biggest question surrounding Face/Off 2 is whether or not both original stars return. By stars, we mean John Travolta and Nic Cage. Where do we start with these two?
Both have had amazing careers and have appeared in many signature movies. Of course, John Travolta began his career on the hit TV series Welcome Back, Kotter turning that into feature film stardom with early movies such as Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Urban Cowboy, and the Saturday Night Fever sequel Staying Alive.
He then went on to star in the Look Who’s Talking trifecta as well as hitting it big time as Vincent Vega in Pulp Fiction. After moderate success with Get Shorty, Broken Arrow, and Michael, Travolta joined Nic Cage in John Woo’s very first American feature film. Wingard has every intention of bringing Travolta back for a second facing off as Sean Archer.
Given Nic Cage’s recent popularity, his return is almost assured. According to director Wingard, it is Cage’s rebirth that makes the timing right for a Face/Off 2. “He’s just having such a moment. Even before Pig came out, we saw this as a Nicolas Cage movie,” Wingard told Empire.
“That’s become totally the obvious way to go now. A couple of years ago, the studio maybe would have wanted a hot, young, up-and-coming actor or something. Now, Nicolas Cage is one of the hottest actors in Hollywood again. We’re really honing in on [the script]. We’re not going to share it until everybody’s like, ‘This is the one.’ I think we really got it. It has been probably the most challenging script we’ve ever worked on, for a lot of reasons. There’s so much pressure in wanting to make sure that it lives up to the legacy of that project. But every draft you have these things that just click in, and you’re like, ‘A-ha! That’s really what Face/Off is!'”
Wingard also made known his full intentions when speaking about the sequel and how the movie doesn’t necessarily revolve around the face-off procedure per se, but more around the two main characters.
“Some people just assume when I say that that it just means it takes place in the world of Face/Off,” Wingard said via Comicbook. “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.”
PEDRO PASCAL WANTS TO BE IN FACE/OFF 2
Speaking of Nic Cage’s popularity, there is another actor who recently starred with Cage that would love nothing more than to get a call for Face/Off 2 – Pedro Pascal. The Mandalorian and upcoming The Last of Us actor just came off the hit film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent opposite Nic Cage and is anxious to get more screen time with his new pal.
“Yes. Yes, I would,” he said via Movieweb. “I mean, really just a straightforward answer. Yes. I rattle off so many movies that were from the ‘80s, before I graduated high school, so the impression that they left on me obviously was so big. But then of course, once you get into the ‘90s and Leaving Las Vegas and then into Face/Off, it’s a whole other level of admiration. All of that is to say yes: I would like to be a part of Face/Off 2.”
Let’s make this happen.
FACE/OFF 2 WILL FIX THE FIRST MOVIE’S PROBLEMS WITH THE ACTORS NOT SWAPPING BODIES
The plot details for Face/Off 2 are extremely scarce since the script has yet to be completed by Wingard and Barrett, but there is one thing Wingard aims to fix with his sequel.
Many fans of the original have long pointed out that in the movie when Archer (Travolta) and Troy (Cage) swap faces, their bodies remain the same. Of course, back then, special effects were far behind what moviemakers have at their disposal today, which is what Wingard touched on.
“We try to address that in this film, because also this is over 20 years later from the first movie.” He said to Uproxx. “So, technology in terms of what in the Face/Off world they can do has advanced, and those kinds of things. So, we try to make sure that when the stuff comes up, that we’re checking those boxes and making sure that’s addressed. But at the end of the day, it’s like… Yeah, that’s all I’ll say about that, because it’s one of the things. I don’t want to give anything too much away, too early.”
Agreed. Way too early to delve into a plot that hasn’t been worked out.
THE FIRST FACE/OFF CAME IN 1997 AND WAS DIRECTED BY JOHN WOO
John Woo made his American feature film director’s debut with the 1997 Nic Cage/John Travolta movie. Travolta played FBI Agent Archer while Cage was terrorist Troy. When Archer survives an assassination attempt by Troy, Archer’s vendetta begins when the bullet meant to kill him actually goes through him, killing his son instead.
Fast forward six years and Archer has Troy in his sights. Troy teases Archer telling him about a bomb that is set to go off in Los Angeles in a few days but before Archer can get the whereabouts of the bomb, Troy is knocked into a coma. After it is confirmed that the bomb is real by one of Troy’s partners, Archer is convinced by his to undergo the highly experimental face transplant procedure that will give Archer Troy’s face so he can then go undercover as Troy to find out where the bomb is located.
He does, but soon the real Troy comes out of his coma where he also finds out that Archer now has his face. He forces the doctor who created the face transplant to do the same to him, giving Troy Archer’s face. After the procedure, Troy-now-Archer kills all involved. Troy plans to take over Archer’s life.
Story aside, the true joy of this movie is watching John Travolta become Nic Cage with all of Cage’s mannerisms and vice versa. They both could be considered tour-de-force performances as they mimic each other amazingly well.
FACE/OFF 2 WILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH CHARACTER DEATHS FROM THE FIRST FILM
If you haven’t seen the first Face/Off movie, you may want to skip this next brief part as a big SPOILER is on the way. Another question that Wingard and Barrett will have to iron out in Face/Off 2 will be how, exactly, will Nic Cage’s Troy come back. Impaled by a spear gun and dying is how he met his maker, so figuring out his resurrection will be paramount in bringing the two face-to-face one more time.
FACE/OFF 2 HAS NO RELEASE DATE
When it was first broached, the idea of Face/Off 2 was just that, an idea. But it was being more considered to be a remake. But now that Wingard, and more to the point Cage, have come out and said the film will be a continuation, that changes everything.
Fans have been waiting patiently to see Cage put on Travolta’s face (and vice versa) one more time. Let’s just hope it happens sooner rather than later. We (all) aren’t getting any younger.
