Nicolas Cage may have become more meme than man, but in between all of his insane genre films, once in a while he still manages to deliver a straightforward dramatic performance capable of reminding everyone why he’s always been lauded by his peers and fans as one of his generation’s best talents. And Pig looks as though it could serve as that reminder.
The plot follows the Academy Award winner as a mushroom forager named Rob who lives alone in the wilderness with his prized truffle hunter, before he’s forced to venture back into the big city after his prized pig is kidnapped. But even then, that’s one of the more regular-sounding movies he’s appeared in for a spell.
The premise might sound a touch on the ludicrous side, but the trailer comes packing plenty of atmosphere and doesn’t feature a single scene of the actor devolving into his signature mania. While it’s been a long time since we’ve seen Cage fully invest himself in something so character-driven, which should make Pig appointment viewing for his army of supporters. Michael Sarnoski’s directorial debut is less than a month away, too, with the drama arriving on July 16th.
It’s been a busy period even by the prolific standards of Nicolas Cage, who’s been seen in bonkers supernatural thriller Prisoners of the Ghostland and contained amusement park horror comedy Willy’s Wonderland already this year, as well as hosting the Netflix docuseries History of Swear Words. On top of that, he’ll also be seen playing a fictionalized version of himself in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, and is currently shooting actioner The Retirement Plan in the Cayman Islands with Ron Perlman.