Jim Spellman/WireImage.com

Nicolas Cage is headed to the dark side.

The City of Angels star is set to headline a remake of Abel Ferrara's 1992's pulp classic Bad Lieutenant, which will be helmed by famed German auteur Werner Herzog.

Per Variety, the 44-year-old Cage will slink into the role originated by Harvey Keitel, an NYPD detective who investigates the rape of a young nun all the while seeking forgiveness for a litany of his own sins, including heavy drug use, gambling and cavorting with prostitutes.

The original Lieutenant, directed by Ferrara from a screenplay he cowrote with Zoë Lund, was slapped with an NC-17 rating for its explicit language and hard-core sex scenes, like the one in which Keitel's lapsed Catholic copper masturbates in front of a teenage girl. The redo was written by Billy Finkelstein, a vet of small-screen police dramas like NYPD Blue and Law & Order.

Cage is currently in Australia shooting the time-capsule thriller Knowing with Rose Byrne. Cameras roll on Bad Lieutenant this summer.