Nicolas Cage And John Cusack In Talks For Alaskan Serial Killer Tale 'The Frozen Ground'
We've just got the first word of The Frozen Ground and already it is starting to sound like a film that is emulating Christopher Nolan's approach to remaking Insomnia. The Frozen Ground is a film about Alaskan 'serial predator' Robert Hansen (pictured above middle), who abducted and then hunted women. Nicolas Cage and John Cusack are in talks to take the two starring roles of killer and cop in pursuit. And like Insomnia, which cast Robin Williams as the killer, this will put John Cusack into the shoes of the seemingly shy and mild killer.
Deadline offers the following synopsis, and I'll warn you that it is probably going to be considered spoilerish to some, in the same way that reading details of the Zodiac case could 'spoil' David Fincher's Zodiac.
Cusack is in talks to play a respected family man who for over 12 years abducted more than 24 women and flew them into the Alaskan wilderness to be hunted. Cage is in talks to play a principled and dedicated Alaskan State Trooper who finds Hansen's only surviving teen victim alive on the street. The trooper and the young girl finally bring Hansen to justice.
As for the writer/director, Scott Walker, the guy is something of a mystery at the moment. There are quite a few Scott Walkers around (this isn't the singer) and Deadline notes that he doesn't have a manager or agent at this point. That suggests that he's new to the business; at this point I can't offer any insight or even guesses based on his past work. I can note that Randall Emmett and George Furla are producing, and they're making Broken City, Lay the Favorite and End of Watch. Their previous resume isn't the greatest (88 Minutes, Home of the Brave, The Wicker Man) but it looks like they're trying to move into better, or at least more interesting pictures.