LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage will star in acclaimed Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad's first film for a major Hollywood studio, it was reported on Wednesday.
Cage, 43, most recently seen in "Next" and "Ghost Rider," has signed up for a role in "The Vanished," a thriller about a father who goes in search of his American-born Muslim son who disappears abroad.
The movie is the first US production for Abu-Assad, who won a foreign film Oscar-nomination in 2006 for his powerful drama "Paradise Now" about two youths preparing to become suicide bombers.
Production on the film, which is being made by Universal subsidiary Focus Features, is to begin next year after Cage completes independent drama "The Wrestler."
He will next appear in action adventure sequel "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" in December.
