It might seem too weird to be true, but it’s official: Nicolas Cage will play the lead role in an upcoming satirical comedy based on the true story of an American ex-convict who embarked on a solo mission to hunt down Osama bin Laden.
Currently titled Army of One, the film will be directed by Borat filmmaker Larry Charles. It’s based on the story of Gary Faulkner, a former convict and construction worker who traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan hunting the now-deceased leader of al-Qaeda with a sword he bought on a home-shopping channel and a pistol he brought from his home in Colorado.
Faulkner was famously arrested in 2010 in the hills of Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan, carrying the aforementioned weapons, as well as some night-vision goggles and a dagger.
The film will make use of the same semi-improvised style Charles used in his previous films Borat, The Dictator, and Bruno (all starring comedian Sacha Baron Cohen) which should make for an interesting adventure with the famously unpredictable Cage. The film is expected to begin shooting in March, with a release in theaters expected near the end of the year.
While the movie is using a somewhat loose narrative structure, the story is reportedly inspired by the September 2010 article in GQ magazine titled “An Army Of One.”
