The Untouchables is a great film in many ways. It boasts the definitive Odessa steps rip-off / homage; the best ever baseball bat / dinner table crossover, and the least Irish Irish accent ever. Its prequel, The Untouchables: Capone Rising, however, just became less great in one respect, when Nicolas Cage announced that he will no longer be taking part.
Cage's departure, due to "scheduling difficulties", leaves Gerard Butler as the only confirmed cast member - he's playing the younger version of Sean Connery's Jimmy Malone character (it remains to be seen if his Irish accent will sound in any way Irish, or if he'll follow Connery's example and figure, "Hey! They're both Celtic, right?"). But Cage bowing out does help the film in one way. After all, Cage is only three years younger than De Niro was in the prequel, while Butler's over 20 years younger than Connery was, so his departure leaves the way open for an age-appropriate Capone.
But despair not, Cage fans! For your viewing pleasure, the National Treasure: Book Of Secrets trailer is online now here, and it's, well, conspiracy-full. The cast looks very good, there are some intriguing tidbits (kidnapping the US President?) but when even the star doing the voiceover sounds bored, you'll forgive us for not getting too hyped. Still, it's written by "The Wibberleys", and surely even if they hadn't also been involved with Bad Boys II, National Treasure and, er, Shaggy Dog, it'd be worth seeing just to see that screen credit. No? Just us then? Ah well, at least this time there should be fewer mentions of the Declaration of Independence, which cropped up every second line in the last instalment...