With “The Canyons” wrapped, packaged and now ready to hit theaters and VOD this weekend (you’ll see our review soon), Paul Schrader is already looking ahead to his next project. Last night at the New York premiere of the film, when asked if he would ever do a movie like “The Canyons” again (a low-budget indie), Schrader said he would, but it would have to be under the right set of circumstances. He then went on to reveal his future plans, which include a project with a bit more financial muscle behind it. “The next movie I’m doing is with Nicolas Cage and it’s a much more conventional process,” he shared. So what is that movie?
When we spoke to the director last month (full interview coming soon), he revealed that his next directorial effort was “The Dying Of The Light,” a project that Nicolas Winding Refn was originally gearing up to direct a couple of years back. “I’m gonna make that this winter,” Schrader told us, adding: “I think Nic Refn will be exec producer or something, [and] we have gotten an A-actor for that. He’s agreed to the terms, but we’re still negotiating the perks. I’ll do that film starting at the end of the year.” It’s likely safe to say that Cage is the actor he was lining up.
The story centers on a C.I.A. agent who starts to become afflicted with blindness while on his last mission, and Refn’s incarnation infamously fell apart when he couldn’t convince Harrison Ford (who was set to star alongside Channing Tatum) about the fate of his character. But presumably, Schrader—who also wrote the script—will have no such trouble here with Cage on board.
According to Roger Friedman, the project is set up at Red Granite, the upstart production house whose upcoming slate includes Martin Scorsese‘s “The Wolf Of Wall Street” and Scott Cooper‘s “Out Of The Furnace.” More details likely to come, but with five years since his last feature, “Adam Resurrected,” it looks like Schrader isn’t wasting a moment in utilizing his newfound momentum.