Longlegs: Nicolas Cage says Osgood Perkins horror film is about a possessed doll maker

Last Updated on January 30, 2024

A few weeks ago, it was announced that the great Nicolas Cage will be starring in Longlegs, the latest horror project from The Blackcoat’s Daughter (a.k.a. February), I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House, and Gretel & Hansel director Osgood Perkins. Details on the story Perkins wrote were being kept completely under wraps, but it was said that Longlegs is aiming to be “in the vein of classic Hollywood psychological thrillers.” Now Cage has let a little information about the film slip out, revealing that he’ll be playing a possessed doll maker.

Cage revealed this information while talking to legendary filmmaker John Carpenter. Document Journal has published a long conversation with Cage and Carpenter, during which they ask each other about their careers and shower each other with compliments. As the discussion goes on, Cage mentions,

Nicolas: I’m going back to genre; I’m gonna do a movie called Sand and Stones. I play a father in that, with twin sons. It’s kind of a post-apocalyptic [survival] situation. After that, I’m working with Oz [Perkins], who you probably know.

John: No, I don’t.

Nicolas: He’s pretty strong in the horror genre at the moment. But he’s actually Anthony [Perkins’s] son. He’s done some really good movies. Gretel & Hansel was terrific. It’s about a character who’s hearing voices. It’s kind of like a possessed Geppetto, who’s making these dolls—

John: [Laughs] I like it. Possessed Geppetto. Man, oh man.

So now we know that Longlegs will be showing us Cage as a character who hears voices and makes dolls. It sounded like there was more to say about those dolls, but Cage didn’t go any further and the topic shifted after Carpenter laughed about the “possessed Geppetto” description.

Cage is producing Longlegs through his company Saturn Films, which recently had success with The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and Pig. Also producing are Dan Kagan, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Dave Caplan, and Chris Ferguson. Jason Cloth and Fred Berger of Automatik serve as executive producers. Deadline notes that UTA and CAA Media Finance are co-repping worldwide sales on the film.

In addition to directing the films mentioned at the top of this article, Perkins directed an episode of the recent revival of The Twilight Zone. He has also worked on the screenplays for the thriller Removal, the crime thriller Cold Comes the Night, and the horror film The Girl in the Photographs.

Are you looking forward to seeing Cage play a “possessed Geppetto” in Longlegs? Let us know by leaving a comment below.