If you have a really good memory, you might remember a little project called Scared Straight. Back in September of 2006, word hit that Rob Cohen, the director of flicks like XXX and The Fast and the Furious, had signed on to direct the film, which was getting a rewrite from Ron Brinkerhoff. Almost two years later, the film is still in the works, it looks like it hasn't gotten any more rewrites, and Cohen is now only attached as a producer.That leaves Nicolas Cage and John Carpenter to slip right in. The Hollywood Reporter posts the two are in final negotiations for Cage to star and Carpenter to direct the prison thriller, which is now looking to head into production this October. It focuses on a troubled kid (and if nothing has changed, a governor's son) who gets nabbed by "the Scared Straight crime-prevention program, which imprisons delinquent teens for a short period in the hopes of deterring them from a life of crime. While the teen is there, a riot breaks out and prisoners take him hostage." Well, if anything scares the rabble rouser straight, that should. Cage will play a lifer in the prison who helps him out.
I haven't been too keen on Cage's roles lately, but this could potentially take the man back to Con Air days with a hint of Escape from New York, and that's enough for me.
