Tiffany Haddish Joins The Meta Movie In Which Nicolas Cage Plays A Fictionalized Nicolas Cage
Can a single movie contain the unbridled energy of both comedian/movie star Tiffany Haddish and the frequently unhinged cinematic whirlwind that is Nicolas Cage? We're about to find out, because Haddish has been cast in The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, the upcoming meta action-comedy in which Cage plays a heightened version of himself who ends up being forced to channel his most famous characters in order to save the day.
Deadline reports that Haddish has joined the cast of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, an upcoming movie which stars Nicolas Cage as a fictionalized and creatively unfulfilled version of himself. At the end of his financial rope, this film version of Cage decides to attend the birthday of a super-fan for a $1 million fee, but when things go bad at the party, "Cage is forced to live up to his own legend, channeling his most iconic and beloved on-screen characters in order to save himself and his loved ones." Sounds like this could end up being one of his most-loved roles of his career.
Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian, Game of Thrones) is set to play the superfan, while Sharon Horgan (Catastrophe, Game Night) is playing Cage's ex-wife, who gets sucked into the chaos as the events unfold. Meanwhile, Haddish will play an "eccentric rogue government agent [named] Vivian, who, in a long-standing battle against one of the largest criminal organizations in Europe, forces Cage to go undercover in a crazy, off-book, last-ditch effort to bring them down for good."
Haddish broke out in a huge way with her unforgettable antics in Girls Trip and has become one of the go-to comedic forces in Hollywood over the past couple of years, but she's also proven that she can be a bit more subdued when the occasion calls for it (see: the Key and Peele movie Keanu). It's rare for her to play characters who are in authority or positions of power, but the idea that she's playing an eccentric rogue agent here should fit right in with the bombastic on-screen persona she's cultivated.
That Awkward Moment director Tom Gormican is directing this movie, which he co-wrote with Workaholics alum Kevin Etten. The two previously worked together as executive producers on Ghosted, the short-lived paranormal FOX TV comedy which starred Adam Scott and Craig Robinson. Lionsgate is expected to start shooting The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent sometime this fall.