Nicolas Cage will play the most feared man in San Quentin in true-crime drama The Brand

No matter how you feel about Nicolas Cage’s last dozen films, the man cannot be stopped. This time, he’s signed on for The Brand – a true crime drama taking a swing at the seedy reality of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang down at San Quentin.

What’s the story?

So, Cage is set to play Carter Briggs, the most feared face among San Quentin’s white prison gang scene. Not exactly mellow territory, and, frankly, precisely the sort of role where Cage thrives. He’s joined by Alexander Ludwig (from "Bad Boys: Ride or Die"), Gabriel Basso (you might know him from "The Night Agent"), and Maria Bakalova ("The Apprentice").

Ludwig takes the lead as Taylor Hartman, a bit of a “young lifer” who finds himself under Carter’s rather dangerous wing. Now, here’s where it gets very prison-movie: when the authorities try to break up the gang by spreading its members nationwide, they accidentally give the Aryan Brotherhood the reach it never had before. Taylor, meanwhile, starts climbing the gang ladder, risking tossing his chance at a normal life with Bakalova’s character, Lilly, all for loyalty to Cage’s kingpin. If the tension sounds familiar, remember – true crime rarely ends quietly.

• Nicolas Cage stars as Carter Briggs, white supremacist gang leader
• Alexander Ludwig is Taylor Hartman, the impressionable recruit
• Gabriel Basso and Maria Bakalova round out the main cast

Behind the camera, we’ve got Vincent Grashaw (he did "Gangland") directing, from a script by Alessandro Camon ("The Messenger"). The project’s based off a New Yorker feature by David Grann – yes, the same bloke who wrote "Killers of the Flower Moon." If you’ve read Grann before, you know you’re not in for half measures.

Director Vincent Grashaw put it this way: "What excites me about The Brand is the opportunity to approach another prison story from a fresh perspective—grounded in the characters and the reality of this world, but with a propulsive energy that makes the rise of this organization feel as compelling as it is unsettling. David Grann’s article and Alessandro Camon’s screenplay have given us an incredible foundation, and I’m grateful to be working alongside this entire team. With Nicolas Cage, Alexander Ludwig, Maria Bakalova, and Gabriel Basso bringing these characters to life, we’re already off to a terrific start as we continue to build out a phenomenal cast."

The pitch from the producers

Anthony Mastromauro, producing, says he sees it as a proper “epic gangster story” about prison gangs in the age of mass incarceration, following one man’s sink-or-swim journey. He’s big on the cast – not least Cage, who gets billed as “one of the greatest actors of my generation”, so no lack of Cage enthusiasm there. Maria Bakalova also gets highlighted for "brilliance", and Ludwig for “the strength and vulnerability”. Make of that what you will, but it’s nothing if not on-message for this sort of prestige pitch.

There’s the usual bluster about "timeless cinema" and “bold, filmmaker-driven work”, but given the Grann source material and Cage as a white supremacist ring-leader, it’ll almost certainly be worth gawping at – awful hair or not. Early word is the film’s launching at AFM under Gramercy Park Media after Klingher (another producer) previously worked with Cage on “The Surfer”.

Producer Nathan Klingher also weighed in: "It’s incredibly exciting to work with Nicolas Cage again after the success of The Surfer. Alessandro Camon’s script for The Brand is a powerful and uncompromising adaptation of David Grann’s reporting, and with Vincent Grashaw directing and Alexander Ludwig, Maria Bakalova, and Gabriel Basso joining Nick, we feel we have something really special. The Brand is exactly the kind of bold, filmmaker-driven work Gramercy Park Media strives to help create and we’re thrilled to be launching it at AFM."