One of the most meme-worthy roles in a career loaded with meme-worthy roles, Nicolas Cage starred in The Wicker Man back in 2006, a new take on the folk horror classic from 1973. Fans frequently poke fun at the film with memes as well as humorous clips and screen-grabs, notably including Cage screaming about bees and running around in a bear suit.
So was The Wicker Man 2006 intended to be funny, or was the film’s particular brand of humor entirely accidental? Cage clears the air in a new chat with Indiewire this week.
Cage reflects, “I know people had fun with that even if they thought the comedy was not intentional. I’m going on record right now: That is not a fact.”
“[Director] Neil [LaBute] and I both knew how funny it was,” Cage continues. “It probably would’ve been more clear how funny it was if [producer] Avi Lerner let me have the handlebar mustache that I wanted to wear and be burned in the bear suit. That would’ve been so horrifying, but they didn’t go for that because all the comedy would’ve emerged from this horror.”
Cage adds, “But Ari Aster did it brilliantly in Midsommar. That was terrifying, but they didn’t have the vision that Neil and I had for it.” Aster’s Midsommar indeed ends with one of the main characters being burned alive in a bear suit, in line with Cage’s own personal vision for the finale of The Wicker Man 2006. Alas, the producers on the film just didn’t go for it.
So there you have it. The Wicker Man 2006 was very much *intentionally* comedic in nature, with Cage and director LaBute – if no one else – leaning into the absurdity of it all.
If only Cage had been rocking a handlebar mustache in the film. Sigh…
The post Nicolas Cage Reflects on the Intentional Comedy of ‘The Wicker Man’ Remake appeared first on Bloody Disgusting!.