The Nicolas Cage Renaissance continues as it has been announced that the actor is all set to direct himself in the independent thriller Vengeance: A Love Story. The film will be based on Joyce Carol Oates’ 2003 novel “Rape: A Love Story”, and will be adapted for the screen by John Mankiewicz.
Speaking to Variety, the legendary actor said: “I’m excited to work on ‘Vengeance: A Love Story’ and bring Joyce Carol Oates’ bittersweet novel to the screen,” Cage said. “Storytelling has always been my passion and I’m honored to work with this talented team to tell a tale of the suffering too many women have endured.”
Harold Becker was previously attached to direct, and will still serve as producer on the project.
Here’s a brief description of the plot, taken from the source material.
Teena Maguire should not have tried to shortcut her way home that Fourth of July. Not after midnight, not through Rocky Point Park. Not the way she was dressed in a tank top, denim cutoffs, and high-heeled sandals. Not with her twelve-year-old daughter Bethie. Not with packs of local guys running loose on hormones, rage, and alcohol. A victim of gang rape, left for dead in the park boathouse, the once vivacious Teena can now only regret that she has survived. At a relentlessly compelling pace punctuated by lonely cries in the night and the whisper of terror in the afternoon, Joyce Carol Oates unfolds the story of Teena and Bethie, their assailants, and their unexpected, silent champion, a man who knows the meaning of justice. And love.
Shooting will kick off next month in Atlanta.
