The actor Michael Caine has again come out of retirement for one last job – in this case, Vin Diesel sequel The Last Witch Hunter 2. Caine will be reprising his role as a priest who assists the immortal warrior played by Diesel to stop the plague ravaging the planet.
Caine, 92, first retired in 2009, after shooting gang crime drama Harry Brown and then again, 24 films later, in 2021, after starring as novelist in Best Sellers. He returned for little-seen Croatian historical drama Medieval in 2022 and, the following year, starred in The Great Escaper as a D-Day veteran who travels to Normandy solo from his care home for the 70th anniversary.
Caine gave mixed messages about his retirement while promoting that film, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I’ve figured, I’ve had a picture where I’ve played the lead and it’s got incredible reviews. The only parts I’m likely to get now are old men, 90-year-old men, maybe 85. And I thought, ‘Well, I might as well leave with all this – I’ve got wonderful reviews. What have I got to do to beat this?’”
Speaking to the Guardian to promote that film, however, Caine indicated some appetite to continue working, saying that the following January, he would be shooting a new movie in which he played Charles Darwin. “And that’ll be it. I won’t do another one after.”
Caine with Elijah Wood in the first film. Photograph: Summit Entertainment/Everett/Shutterstock
Questioned whether he was certain, Caine said: “No! But the point is, can you do it? Can you remember all the lines? I’ve got used to not working and staying in bed till 11am and staying out late at night. I love it.”
The Darwin project appears not to have materialised, although Disney do have a Charles Darwin film in development.
The Last Witch Hunter attracted mixed reviews on release a decade ago, but was a substantial hit internationally and has since proved a staple of streamers, with Netflix reporting that it was one of their most-watched titles last year.
While Caine has been off our screens for two years, he has remained in the public eye through his sideline in thriller writing, as well as publishing a new memoir, and his sometimes gnomic tweets.
Later this year will see the first film for eight years of fellow Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis, another habitual retiree, who co-writes and stars in Anemone, the directorial debut of his son, Ronan.
