Nic Cage Joins 'The Dying of the Light'; Martin Campbell Eyes 'Alpha'; Angus Wall Takes 'Empire'

* It was a lengthy five years between Paul Schrader's previous film and this week's The Canyons, and since it has a received a considerable amount of buzz thanks to its controversial stars, he's using the attention to get his next project going. Last night he revealed that Nicolas Cage will star in The Dying of the Light, a film that Nicolas Winding Refn had been developing a couple of years ago. The film centers on a CIA agent afflicted with blindness during his final mission. Schrader also wrote the script, and at one point it had Harrison Ford and Channing Tatum attached, but it's unlikely either is involved at this point. [Showbiz411]


* Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) is in talks to direct Alpha, a film that Paramount has been trying to put together for years, and has had a lot of talent working on it. The latest draft comes from Scott Frank (The Lookout), and centers on a Navy SEAL that works with military canines to rescue their kidnapped handler. Previous drafts have been written by David Benioff (Game of Thrones) and Carl Ellsworth (Red Eye) [TheWrap]


* David Fincher's favorite editor, Angus Wall, is set to make his directorial debut on Empire, a film written by Source Code scribe Ben Ripley. Details aren't clear at this point, but the tone is said to be somewhere between Safe House and The Usual Suspects. Wall has been working with Fincher since 2002's Panic Room, and took home a pair of Academy Awards for The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.