The words "Nicolas Cage heist comedy" may conjure up all sorts of concepts in your fevered imaginations... but possibly not this one. While he won't necessarily appear in the film, Cage will be a character in Lionsgate's Action No. 1, based on the true story of the theft of his prized posession.

The first issue of Action Comics was where a certain Superman made his debut in 1938. Cage owned a copy, but it was stolen in 2000, and only recovered last year. Cage, who'd claimed his insurance by then, didn't get it back, and it stayed with the LAPD for a time, before fetching a record $2.16m at auction last November.

The screenplay is by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, who co-wrote Night At The Museum and Balls Of Fury, and were the creators of Comedy Central's Reno: 911! Their fictional take on the real events involves a group of nerds planning the geek heist of the century. Obviously, the film was written with the hope that Cage would play himself, but sadly, that doesn't seem to be happening. Whether someone else will get to play the arch-warlock, or whether the film will somehow get around his absense, remains to be seen.

There's no start-date or potential cast yet, but we'll have a beady eye on this one. And if you've never seen his costume test for the abandoned 1990s Tim Burton version, perhaps be thankful that this is the closest Cage is likely now to get to a Superman movie...