Hollywood’s glitterati are abuzz today after WWE Studios announced that megastar Nicolas Cage will portray the title character in the upcoming biopic Stand Back: The Vince McMahon Story. 

Cage, known for his brilliantly nuanced performances in Face/Off and Mandy, will face the challenge of capturing McMahon’s improbable melange of genius, insanity, and oversized grapefruits.

Reportedly to be directed by Werner Herzog, the film will chronicle the sports-entertainment mogul’s unlikely rise from poor young carny to rich old carny.

Cage was the natural choice to play the role, after Anthony Hopkins turned it down.

The film’s screenwriter, Cormac McCarthy, reportedly spent 72 straight hours listening to McMahon’s commentary on VHS recordings of WWF Superstars of Wrestling in a vein attempt to perfectly mimic McMahon’s pronunciation of “russling.”

The film will hit theatres this summer and, as with all WWE Studios films, will bring home the gold in a big way at the following Academy Awards.