‘Face/Off’ Sequel: Director Adam Wingard Tells Us to “Read Between the Lines” About the Possible Return of Cage and Travolta

“I don’t want to scare anybody off.”

That’s what Adam Wingard, the director of Godzilla vs. Kong and the upcoming Face/Off sequel, told us when we asked for clarification about whether or not original stars John Travolta and Nicolas Cage are vital to the success of his planned follow-up to John Woo’s 1997 action classic. But that’s not all he said: he strongly hinted at the actors’ return, instructing us to “read between the lines” of the rest of his answer. 

I spoke with Wingard yesterday while he was making the virtual rounds to promote Godzilla vs. Kong, and we’ll be publishing that full discussion on /Film sometime in the next week. But near the end of our conversation, I couldn’t resist asking about his take on Face/Off 2, a project which surprised cinephiles when it was announced as a remake earlier this year and then surprised them again when Wingard quickly followed up to reveal that it would actually be a direct sequel. Since then, the filmmaker has strongly hinted that both Cage and Travolta could be back in the mix in the new movie, but he’s never clearly and directly confirmed as much. Here’s the relevant excerpt from our interview.

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/Film: I know you can’t talk much about your Face/Off sequel, but maybe you can clarify one thing for me: is it essential that both Cage and Travolta sign on for the movie to work?

Wingard: You know, I’m scared to say yes or no to that because we haven’t gotten into that phase of it yet, that I don’t want to scare anybody off. But again, I will kind of reiterate that this is a definitive sequel to Face/Off, and I wouldn’t do the movie if, at any point, it felt like the film wasn’t going to be a real, definitive sequel. I know that’s not a cool answer, but read between the lines there, you know? (laughs)

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That is not crystal clear confirmation, but it sure sounds an awful lot like his intention is to have both Cage and Travolta return. If I had to guess, it seems like Wingard doesn’t want to put the cart before the horse and give the actors any extra negotiating power by loudly proclaiming in the press that the film absolutely cannot work without both of them. Fair enough.

Godzilla vs. Kong arrives on HBO Max and in theaters in the United States on March 31, 2021.

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