Nic Cage May Star In Season 5 Of True Detective (Yes, That's Still Happening)
Oscar winner Nicolas Cage is in talks to headline the upcoming fifth season of HBO‘s Emmy-winning crime anthology series True Detective, which marks the return of Season 4’s Issa Lopez as writer-showrunner, sources tell Deadline. As Deadline revealed earlier this year, the new installment will be set in New York, in Jamaica Bay, per HBO’s Head of Drama Series and Film Francesca Orsi.
Cage is in talks for the lead role of Henry Logan, a New York detective on the case at the center of the new season, sources said. A rep for HBO declined comment. The actor has been circling the part for a while, it is unclear whether the deal will close. Another Oscar winner, Jodie Foster, also took a long time to make her deal for True Detective‘s Season 4, Night Country.
“Issa has a lot to say, not unlike she did with Night Country,” Orsi said about the new installment. “It’s a different milieu but just as powerful.”
I digest this news in two parts:
1. I love Nic Cage. He's one of the last true characters left in hollywood and he ALWAYS gives 110% to the role. Over the last 25 years, that effort is sometimes wasted on a garbage, straight-to-VOD movie. Other times, it is an Oscar-level performance in a movie like 'Pig'. Either way, he is capable of a phenomenal performance and I think it could definitely come in the role of a NYPD cop (a role he has played before).
2. True Detective does not move the needle for me anymore. The first season is one of the greatest single seasons of TV ever but it has been TOUGH sledding since. Season 2 was a disaster, 3 was better and then 4 was right back down to the floor of season 2. And, as you can read above, the showrunner of season 4 is directing season 5 as well.
Quick SPOILERS FOR SEASON 4 if you care about that kind of thing.
Night Country, to me, was one of the worst endings I've ever seen on TV from a story perspective. Lopez introduced some cool mysteries to open it up, there was a really cool setting up in the arctic circle and obviously a great lead actor in Jodie Foster. It revolves around a bunch of scientists at a remote research post that were found butt-naked in the snow, seemingly after fleeing something within the station. Cool! Well, it turns out the researchers were actually killed by a bunch of cleaning ladies who executed a seal team 6 style raid on the facility as retaliation for them killing one of their relatives. INSANELY stupid.
On top of the dumb main story, there were a ton of dead ends and a real lack of chemistry between the cast. So I'm not really thrilled that Lopez is getting another crack at it. Again, Love Cage and think he has a McConaughey in TD1 level performance in him. Just not seeing it here.