John Carpenter, the man who almost invented the concept of a cult director, is to get back behind the camera for the first time in seven years.
The director of such late-night classics as Halloween, Assault On Precinct 13, The Fog and Escape From New York, is set to make a thriller called Scared Straight.
Nicolas Cage (pictured in The Weather Man) is lined up to star in the film which finds him as a lifer caught in the middle of a prison riot, coming to the defence of a young prisoner who's taken hostage. The youngster is only there as a result of the misguided eponymous scheme which aims to use a short burst of prison to frighten juvenile delinquents back onto the straight and narrow.
Work could begin as soon as October if everything goes well in planning stage. In his 70s prime, Carpenter was known for moving fast on a low budget (he typically wrote, directed and even composed the score), so hopefully Scared Straight should hit the screens some time next year.