I don’t know that we can say Nicolas Cage is having a bit of a career renaissance per se, but over the past few years he has starred in some much more prominent and interesting films than his straight-to-DVD fare -- including Mandy, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and Color Out of Space. He’s got more intriguing projects on the way too. Nicolas Cage takes a horrifying job at an amusement park in the first look at Wally’s Wonderland. Check it out below:
Between Mandy and Color Out of Space, Nicolas Cage has been starring in some colorful films of late, especially ones awash in reds, blues, purples and magentas and that trend does not look to abate with Wally’s Wonderland. This first look image at the horror film is colorful, stylish and quite a bit weird, which I think is pretty on brand for the actor’s recent string of indie films.
Wally’s Wonderland hails from director Kevin Lewis and is based on a script by G.O. Parsons. The film stars Nicolas Cage as a character simply known as The Janitor, a drifter who is tricked into taking the custodial job at an abandoned family entertainment center known as Wally’s Wonderland. But as this mysterious looking first image teases, not all is as it seems at Wally’s and The Janitor will be facing a lot more than filthy bathrooms.
That’s because Wally’s Wonderland is populated by demonically possessed animatronics. Trapped in the park, The Janitor must find a way to survive overnight as he fights wave after wave of outwardly family friendly animatronics turned frightful and murderous. It’s a fun premise that sounds a lot like Five Nights at Freddy’s or a Goosebumps book.
This first image from Wally’s Wonderland looks like it is probably taken from towards the beginning of the film, as The Janitor is exploring and discovering that things are amiss. For whatever reason he wasn’t tipped off by the absurd notion of needing to keep a condemned and abandoned amusement park clean. It also looks like The Janitor may be digging in to the mystery of what’s going on.
I can’t quite make out what’s written on the frosted glass of the door he’s opening, but it definitely gives off The Walking Dead’s ‘Don’t Open Dead Inside’ vibes.
The premise may sound pretty simple, but according to Deadline, G.O. Parsons’ screenplay for Wally’s Wonderland was high on The Blood List, similar to The Black List, a list of the best unproduced screenplays in the dark horror and thriller genres.
This is also the kind of thing that should allow Nicolas Cage to go full Nic Cage in a story that completely calls for that level of craziness as he battles demonic animatronics. I’m not sure he’ll get to have a chainsaw battle in this like he did in Mandy, but I imagine we’re in store for some wild stuff.
Alongside Nicolas Cage, Wally’s Wonderland also stars Party of Five and Mayans M.C.’s Emily Tosta and No Country For Old Men and Donnie Darko’s Beth Grant.
Wally’s Wonderland is currently filming in Atlanta and a release date has not yet been set. For movies with release dates this year, check out our 2020 Release Schedule.
