Nic Cage’s oeuvre just keeps getting more and more Nic Cage-ian. With the exception of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent—a twisted Being John Malkovich-meets-Misery hybrid wherein the actor plays a struggling version of himself (!) who must recreate his most iconic cinematic moments (!!) to survive an obsessed super-fan, played by Pedro Pascal (!!!)—Cage’s latest project seems to be the most him one yet. Deadline reports that he’ll be starring in and executive producing Amazon’s forthcoming adaptation of Eoin Colfer’s Highfire, in which he’ll voice a “vodka-drinking, Flashdance-loving dragon who lives an isolated existence in the bayous of Louisiana” and teams up with a teenage mob courier pursued by a corrupt cop.
The publication describes the series, which will be live-action, as “True Detective by way of Pete’s Dragon.” But we’ll also take Shrek meets Breaking Bad, Shrek with guns, Harmony Korine’s Shrek…
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Highfire
Here’s the book’s official synopsis, from HarperCollins:
In the days of yore, he flew the skies and scorched angry mobs—now he hides from swamp tour boats and rises only with the greatest reluctance from his Laz-Z-Boy recliner. Laying low in the bayou, this once-magnificent fire breather has been reduced to lighting Marlboros with nose sparks, swilling Absolut in a Flashdance T-shirt, and binging Netflix in a fishing shack. For centuries, he struck fear in hearts far and wide as Wyvern, Lord Highfire of the Highfire Eyrie—now he goes by Vern. However…he has survived, unlike the rest. He is the last of his kind, the last dragon. Still, no amount of vodka can drown the loneliness in his molten core. Vern’s glory days are long gone. Or are they?
A canny Cajun swamp rat, young Everett “Squib” Moreau does what he can to survive, trying not to break the heart of his saintly single mother. He’s finally decided to work for a shady smuggler—but on his first night, he witnesses his boss murdered by a crooked constable.
Regence Hooke is not just a dirty cop, he’s a despicable human being—who happens to want Squib’s momma in the worst way. When Hooke goes after his hidden witness with a grenade launcher, Squib finds himself airlifted from certain death by…a dragon?
The swamp can make strange bedfellows, and rather than be fried alive so the dragon can keep his secret, Squib strikes a deal with the scaly apex predator. He can act as his go-between (aka familiar)—fetch his vodka, keep him company, etc.—in exchange for protection from Hooke. Soon the three of them are careening headlong toward a combustible confrontation. There’s about to be a fiery reckoning, in which either dragons finally go extinct—or Vern’s glory days are back.
According to Deadline, the other executive producers include Andrew Mittman and Davey Holmes, who will adapt the book. There’s no word yet on a release date or other cast-members.
