Oh dear, I'm not sure how I see this one playing out, but news is in that Nicolas Cage is to star in a film about a father who goes overseas in search of his missing son, a son who is an American born Muslim.

Now there are various warning signs flagging up for The Vanished already, but the biggest is seeing these big acting feet trample all over a very sensitive subject. Can Cage pull it off?

Nicolas Cage has been playing big roles with big characters and big effects/set pieces of late and there's little argument that this is his acting style too.

The idea that he's going to be playing a father looking for his Muslim son lost abroad raises lot's of questions such as what country will it be in? Is he missing in a Muslim country and Cage's character is set to race in there? Is Cage himself playing an American Muslim?

What doesn't raise concern for me however is the news from Variety that Hany Abu-Assad is directing this film in his first Hollywood feature.

Hany Abu-Assad directed the Palestinian film Paradise Now, the acclaimed and Oscar nominated film about two Palestinian youths who are persuaded to become suicide bombers.

So the material and the direction will be incredibly sensitive and well handled. Then Hollywood will be pouring over the shoulder of Abu-Assad, and Nicolas Cage will be leading the film. I'd be nervous.