Simon West To Direct Racing Romance 'Dust And Glory'

Nic Cage Thriller 'Medallion' Retitled 'Stolen'

Simon West, who is something of an A-list director of B-grade material, will probably never live up to the awesomeness of "Con Air," but the cachet of that film continues to serve him well. The respect of that big piece of popcorn has overshadowed his career and luckily for him, lesser efforts like "When A Stranger Calls." And it seems he's never been busier. He spent this fall knocking out "The Expendables 2" with Sly, Arnie, Bruce and the rest of the gang and he's already got his eyes on his next movie.

Described as a mix between "Mad Max" and "Jewel Of The Nile" (see what we mean about B-movie?), THR reports that West will take the reins of "Dust And Glory." Based on the book by Evan Green, and penned by Robert Lewis Galinksy, the romance/racing movie will tell the story of rivalry between an American upstart and Australian legend, as they duke it out on the rugged terrain of Aussie's 1950s Redex trials, which spanned more than 10,000 miles of tough road. We presume stuff blows up too. The catch is that the racers took part in these trials in the most lo-fi vehicles you can imagine, which adds an interesting element. The producers have put up a little documentary on their website, which you can check out below.

This one is gearing up to roll next summer if all goes according to plan, but before then another West movie will be landing in theaters, but not under the name you thought. The Nic-Cage-searching-for-his-daughter-in-the-trunk-of-a-taxi-cab movie "Medallion" has been imaginatively retitled -- after consulting four think tank groups, and after $50 million worth of research -- "Stolen." The movie has a script from hot scribe David Guggenheim, but it also boasts a ridiculous premise. Guess we'll see how that pans out and how over the top Cage goes with it, when it hits theaters and/or VOD in 2012.