Longlegs Director on Hiding Nicolas Cage’s Killer Until the Premiere

In Longlegs, Nicolas Cage plays the titular serial killer being hunted by the FBI. In the promo leading up to its release, Cage’s Longlegs has been used sparingly.

The character’s face has not been revealed in the trailers or posters, and according to Longlegs director Osgood Perkins, there’s a deliberate reason for hiding Cage’s character.

“It’s driving people towards a freak show at a circus tent,” Perkins told EW. “We’ve got the thing behind the curtain, and when there’s enough people gathered ’round, we’re going to pull the curtain.”

In true Cage fashion, the Oscar-winning actor explained the thought process behind withholding the full view of his character until the premiere.

“It’s the equivalent of putting a warning label on a jar of nitroglycerin,” Cage says. “The monster is a highly, highly dangerous substance. The way it’s moved, unveiled, deployed has to be treated very carefully. Forget about the movie theater blowing up; the whole city could blow up, nay the country, maybe even the world. He is going to change your reality. Your doors of perception are going to open, and your life is not going to be the same.”

What to Expect in Longlegs?

Neon’s synopsis reads: “In pursuit of a serial killer, an FBI agent uncovers a series of occult clues that she must solve to end his terrifying killing spree.”

Maika Monroe stars as Lee Harker, an FBI agent tracking Cage’s Longlegs. Alicia Witt, Blair Underwood, Dakota Daulby, and Kiernan Shipka also star.

Longlegs is the latest project from writer and director Osgood Perkins, who helms his first movie since 2020’s Gretel & Hansel. Producers include Cage, Dan Kagan, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Dave Caplan, and Chris Ferguson.

Longlegs arrives in theaters on July 12, 2024.