Nicolas Cage Action Thriller ‘Best Pancakes in the County’ Gets A Fall Release via Independent Film Company

The action thriller Best Pancakes in the County, starring Nicolas Cage, Justin Long and Shelley Hennig, has been acquired by Independent Film Company.

Written and directed by Ken Sanzel (Kill Chain, Blunt Force Trauma), Best Pancakes in the County will be released in theaters and on digital platforms November 20, 2026.

Best Pancakes in the County reunites Sanzel with Cage following their collaboration on the 2019 action thriller Kill Chain.

Cage stars as The S.O.B., an eccentric and cunning criminal caught in the escalating confrontation, alongside Long as Cookie and Hennig as Dolly.

The ensemble cast also includes Lauren German (Lucifer), Ravi Patel (Animal Control), Brandon Mychal Smith (Get On Up), Kelly Greyson (Sleeping Dogs), Jaylen Moore (Six), and Michael Sirow (Sleeping Dogs).

Set over the course of one explosive night, Best Pancakes in the County transforms an unassuming small-town diner into the epicenter of a deadly standoff involving rogue federal agents, a fast-talking con man with a dangerous past and a waitress harboring secrets of her own. As loyalties blur and tensions erupt, survival depends on who can outthink — and outgun — everyone else.

“Working with Nic again was an opportunity to create a character who could be funny, dangerous and completely unpredictable from one moment to the next,” said writer-director Sanzel. “And then he took it to wilder and more unexpected places than I could have imagined. We wanted to take this seemingly ordinary diner, fill it with people with dueling and hidden agendas, juxtapose the threat of violence with the urgency of getting breakfast orders right, and keep turning up the pressure until everything explodes. IFC immediately understood the fast, fun tone of the film, and I’m excited to have them bringing it to audiences.”

Best Pancakes in the County was filmed in Arkansas and is produced by Eduard Osipov, Raja Collins, Eric Brenner, Niko Fomenko, Gary Preisler and R. Wesley Sierk III. Executive producers include John D. Straley, Audra Gricius, Jina Panebianco, Lance Kawas, Ahmed S. Boomrod, Eugene Pruss, and Nadine de Barros. The film is produced by Beno Films and backed by CaliWood Pictures, with Fortitude International handling international sales.

“Best Pancakes in the County is exactly the kind of eccentric and wildly entertaining ride that Nicolas Cage does better than anyone else,” said IFC Entertainment Group’s Chief Acquisition Officer, Mark Ward. “Ken has built a tense, funny and unpredictable thriller around a fantastic ensemble, and we can’t wait for audiences to experience the chaos this November.”