Nicolas Cage stars as himself in first footage revealing plot of new meta-comedy – and it looks wild

‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’ also stars Neil Patrick Harris, Pedro Pascal and Tiffany Haddish

The first footage of Nicolas Cage playing himself in the meta-comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent has been released – and it looks wild.

When the film – which also stars Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgan and Neil Patrick Harris – was first announced in 2019, it was met with excitement from fans of the actor.

To the delight of audiences at CinemaCon yesterday (26 August), Lionsgate closed out the week-long event by premiering a short snippet of the forthcoming film.

The brief reel revealed the plot, as well as showcasing first looks at the film’s key characters.

Per The Hollywood Reporter, the clip sees Cage “completely unleashed, playing into the public myths that have sprung up around him”.

The clip begins with highlights from the Hollywood star’s career before cutting to a fictionalised version of Cage who finds himself being continuously rejected from roles.

Feeling dejected, Cage calls his agent to tell him that he is retiring, stating: “Tell the trades it was a tremendous honour to be a part of storytelling and mythmaking.”

The emotional moment fails to make an impact, however, when a bad phone signal interrupts the call.

(Getty Images)

Before giving up for good, Cage’s agent (Patrick Harris) convinces him to make a guest appearance at the birthday party of a superfan for $1m (£729,000) by assuring the actor that nothing weird or sexual would be required of him.

The superfan turns out to be drug cartel lord Javi (The Mandalorian’s Pedro Pascal) who has multiple tributes to Cage in his house, including a wax statue of the Wicker Man actor complete with the golden guns used in his 1997 action-thriller Face/Off.

Unbeknownst to Cage, however, his superfan is under surveillance by US federal agents.

Neil Patrick Harris (Rex Features)

He eventually learns this when one of the agents (Tiffany Haddish) involves him in the mission to put Javi in prison.

Cage recently impressed fans and critics with his latest film Pig, which was released earlier this month.

You can read The Independent’s four-star review of the film, in which he stars as the bereft owner of a kidnapped truffle pig, here.

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is due for release on 22 April 2022.