Nicolas Cage is Harvey Keitel – well kinda. The superbly coiffured Ghost Rider star has been announced as the titular naughty copper in Werner Herzog’s updated version of 1992's The Bad Lieutenant, reports Variety.
The original film (which infamously featured Keitel masturbating furiously on the side of a car driven by a pair of nubile teens) was directed by Abel Ferrara and, thanks to its shit storm-stirring content, grabbed itself an NC-17 rating.
Whether or not the remake will follow the same route remains to be seen but the recent mellowing of both Cage and Herzog (the former all but being a fully-fledged family star now) implies that the content could well be toned down – which is good news for those who aren’t hot on the idea of witnessing Nicolas doing a Harvey against an automobile, so to speak.
Production will start in late summer with the new script written by Murder One and NYPD Blue scribe Billy Finkelstein.