Nicolas Cage Is Playing Longlegs Again Whether We Like It or Not

I had a really great time with Longlegs; So much so that I ended up seeing it twice in theaters and then snagged the Blu-ray (which looks great). There was a lot to love, like the creepy atmosphere, Nicolas Cage’s committed performance, and, as Dustin pointed out, all them squares! Watching it has felt exhilarating each time, and I was certain that I had become a fan of Osgood Perkins, the man who wrote and directed the film, for life. Then, I saw The Monkey.

Based on a Stephen King short story, The Monkey is about twin brothers who have an evil toy monkey, and even though I’m an easy mark for twin stories since becoming a father to my own five years ago, I almost walked out of that film. It felt disjointed, thought it was way funnier than it actually was, and lacked any tension whatsoever, which is needed when you have a movie that’s mostly about you waiting for people to die in gruesome ways.

The experience was so thoroughly disappointing that I ended up skipping Perkins’ next film. It’s nothing against him personally (even though he does put a lot of himself into his movies). He seems like a cool dude, and I like hearing him talk about movies. But I cannot even adequately put into words how much I did not like The Monkey, which is likely why my Letterboxd log of the film was only about seeing a fight almost break out at the 42nd Street Burger King.

But now, the unexpected has happened. THR announced that a film “set in the Longlegs universe” is in the works from Perkins, with Cage set to return. If you feel conflicted about that news, welcome! I did not leave Longlegs thinking, “I wonder what else is going on in this world?” And I certainly didn’t expect the return of Cage’s character, but there are enough supernatural elements to that first film that there could be an explanation more satisfying than “somehow, Longlegs returned.” But wait! there’s more!

The original film was produced by NEON, but they passed on this next iteration, which will go to Paramount instead. Apparently, NEON thought that this new film would be too expensive, which could be exciting! That said, some of what I loved about the original film is how stripped down it felt. However! While I did not like The Monkey, Perkins gets a lot done with a budget of $10 million, which is also how much Longlegs cost. If this new film is more expensive, he could have some fun tricks up his sleeve.

This will likely end up being one of those “wait and see” moments for me. The original Longlegs was shrouded in mystery during the promotion, so I expect more of the same for the follow-up. There may not be a chance for me to say, “That’s what it’s about? No thanks!” So, when deciding whether or not to buy my ticket, it may come down to whether or not I love Longlegs more than I dislike The Monkey.