After a few films in a row to pay the bills - Ghost Rider, Next and the upcoming **National Treasure **sequel, Nicolas Cage is in talks to join a more respectable, indie film, hopefully with the goal of reminding us all that he can act. Yes, he's in talks to join The Wrestler, currently in development with Darren Aronofsky's Protozoa Pictures.
The story follows Randy "The Ram" Robinson, an '80s wrestler who is on a downward spiral even before he has a minor heart attack during a match. He retires from the business after being told that one more fight could kill him, opening a deli, moving in with a stripper and trying to build a relationship with her son. But the prospect of a match with his old nemesis, The Ayatollah (eh?), proves impossible to resist.
Robert Siegel wrote the script, and given that Aronofsky's production company is putting this together, it's possible that the Fountain director will end up directing it - but there's no word on that yet.
So what do we think - is Cage really the wrestling type? And given that The Ayatollah sounds a bit dated these days, what would your wrestling nemesis be called?