What with all the hoopla surrounding the announcement of The Lone Ranger, and Johnny Depp’s involvement as Tonto, at Disney’s recent lavish roadshow presentation in LA, you could have been forgiven for almost forgetting that another major film was also announced that day: The Sorceror’s Apprentice, a big-budget fantasy which would reunite National Treasure director Jon Turteltaub with his star, Nicolas Cage.
And that movie, produced by another National Treasure stalwart, Jerry Bruckheimer, seems a lot further along than The Lone Ranger, as evidenced by the news that Jay Baruchel is in talks to play the eponymous apprentice.
If Baruchel signs on the line that is dotted, it will complete one heck of a year for the 26 year-old, coming on the back of Tropic Thunder where he managed to hold his own with a cast of comedy heavy-hitters. Baruchel has also lined up Jay & Seth Vs. The Apocalypse, with Seth Rogen, and will next be seen starring in rom-com, She’s Out Of My League.
But this will be his biggest gig yet, in a movie that will see Cage play a wizard living in modern-day New York who’s searching, Sir Alan Sugar-style, for an apprentice. Enter Baruchel… not literally, of course. It's a family film.
The movie is written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, with Matt Lopez performing a rewrite, and should go before the cameras some time next year.