Yesterday was an epic day at Empire. In case you weren't one of the throng squeezed sardine-like onto the internet for the great man's webchat, Nicolas Cage was here to field all manner of questions, from the wise to the plain wacky, and all things in between.
When he wasn't elucidating on his experiences in a haunted Romanian forest or talking us through his **Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance **prep in Stanislavskian detail, he was sharing his favourite movie lines ("Vive la fucking France, man!") and joining the ongoing Best Sandwich Ever debate with a roast lamb, tomato and rocket affair.
Along the way, there were a couple of interesting Cage titbits worth sharing. The first was that he's open to the idea of a Wicker Man sequel. Now before you run screaming "Not the bees! Not the bees!" (if it's not too late), this was delivered with half a smile and a wryness that suggests it could be nothing more than a pipe-dream. But still, can you imagine?
Us neither. Cage can, though. "I would like to hook up with one of the great Japanese filmmakers, like the master that made Ringu, and take The Wicker Man to Japan," Cage grinned, "except this time he's a ghost." If Hideo Nakata is reading this, the bees.
Cage also mentioned how he turned down roles in not one but two major franchises over the past decade. "There were two movies that asked me to go to Australia or New Zealand for long periods of time. One was Lord Of The Rings and one was the Matrix. But I was actively involved at that time raising my family and I couldn't really take that time out."
As Ghost Rider's fiery Romanian sojourn proves, he's happy to travel again. So would he be open to revisit the National Treasure franchise for a third time? "I would, but I've not heard any news about a third one at this time, and it would be interesting to take National Treasure into South America."
Considering the first two movies grossed nearly $800m between them, don't discount Benjamin Gates learning Spanish for National Treasure 3: The Merciless Peppers of Quetzalacatenango.
For the full webchat transcript, including the best story about staff-whittling ever, click here.
**Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance **is out on 17 February.