Nicolas Cage Plays a Truffle Hunter in an Upcoming Film
Who says Hollywood is out of ideas? Sure, they might be out of traditional ideas, but filmmakers were recently able to plunder the high-end food world for this unexpected concept: A new movie will star Nicolas Cage as a truffle hunter looking to retrieve his kidnapped pig. The elevator pitch might have been something like "Taken meets Babe."
Pig—as the project is sensibly called—will be directed by Michael Sarnoski based on a story he co-wrote with Vanessa Block. According to IMDB, this will be the first feature film for both of them. The site list's the movie's logline as "A truffle hunter who lives alone in the Oregonian wilderness must return to his past in Portland in search of his beloved foraging pig after she is kidnapped."
"What began as a very personal project has transformed into a labor of love for so many talented people," Sarnoski said according to the trade rag Variety. "I'm thrilled for us all to be bringing this strange world to life."
"Michael's vision for Pig is a true testament of his unique voice as a writer-director, and one that we can't wait to introduce to audiences across the world," added Thomas Benski of Pulse Films, one of the companies producing the project. "Having such an incredible cast attached, led by Nicolas Cage and supported by Alex Wolff, speaks directly to the special nature of the story Michael and Vanessa have devised."
Though Oregon truffle hunting might seems like an odd concept for a movie, this won't be the first time the state's truffle industry has been mined for drama. Back in 2015, Discovery Channel aired Unearthed—a reality show that followed "the drama in the forest as the truffle foragers of Oregon battle each other over a decreasing number of productive truffle patches and put everything on the line in hopes of a big payoff," as the show is described on Amazon. "It's a risky business as they face the elements, animal predators and fellow hunters who are willing to set traps, sabotage patches and do whatever it takes to find the buried treasure."
Unearthed only lasted one season of five episodes. But it didn't star Nicolas Cage. Needless to say, the expectations for Pig are much higher.
