Nicolas Cage to star as himself in meta-film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Few Hollywood careers have been as tumultuous as that of Nicolas Cage. There was a time when the actor was one of the industry’s biggest leading men and where practically any film he starred in, whether action or drama, was bound to be a massive success. Since then though, Cage has fallen from such heights where he now pretty much just looks to cash in a paycheck, saying yes to just about production prepared to hire him, irrespective of its quality. Credit to the actor though who at least gives his all to these, mostly, bizarre roles.

And I guess seeing that Cage has played almost every ridiculous role imaginable, it’s only fair for him to take on perhaps his most absurd role yet. Himself. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Cage has been cast in the film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, where he will star as himself. The actor will be joined by comedy star Tiffany Haddish who will play the role of an eccentric rogue agent who convinces a rock-bottom Nicolas Cage to go undercover and catch a superfan (Pedro Pascal) who also happens to be a criminal kingpin.

The article describes Cage in the movie as “fervently trying to reconnect with his teenage daughter and overcome with horrendous debt”. So, pretty much like his ongoing life. The bizarre film will see Cage have internal conversations with a ‘90s movie star version of himself, as he convinces himself to live up to his own action-star legend. Yes, people, you cannot make this stuff up. 2008 Belgian film JCVD had a very similar idea with Jean-Claude Van Damme playing a down-on-his-luck version of himself who gets caught up in a hostage situation where everybody expects him to be the action hero he is in his movies. That film was played very dramatically though (Editor’s note: Arguably Van Damme’s best performance ever – Kervyn), whereas The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is seemingly leaning into its ridiculous nature, perfectly fitting in with the persona that is Nicolas Cage.

The film is the brainchild of Tom Gormican and Kevin Etten with Gormican directing the meta film. In combination with Haddish, expect this film to be a wild ride that will most certainly bring out the awkward laughs even if it ends up not being very good.

Last Updated: September 23, 2020