One of the charming and funnier points of Sofia Coppola's Lost in Translation is how it used an actor of Bill Murray's caliber to spoof the more hamfisted and sometimes absurd ways big time Hollywood actors would lend their talents to commercials in Japan to sling a variety of products in hilarious ways. The golden trio, judging from general consensus, would be Arnold Schwarzenegger turning into a gibberish-spouting mad man over an energy drink, Hulk Hogan teaching you the days of the week in order to get you to buy an air conditioner, and Nicolas Cage singing the most dramatic song about pachinko you will ever hear.

Now Nicolas Cage is giving his cheesy pachinko piano bar performance an encore, this time by turning himself into one of Japan's most popular snacks, Umaibo ("Delicious Stick"). Although, since he is "becoming" the snack himself, it's actually called the Nicolastick.

If you're not familiar, Umaibo are a puffy cylindrical corn snack (similar to Cheetos in texture), long popular in Japan for their cheap price (10 yen individually) and variety of flavors. While the mascot is a feline parody of famous anime character Doraemon named Umaemon, a limited edition to promote the Japanese theatrical release of Army of One will feature a special wrapper with Cage's face on it. The Nicolastick's official flavor is "Corn Potage", the gold standard of Umaibo flavors.

They aren't available regularly in stores, unfortunately. As Japanese theaters often do to encourage the sale of pre-order tickets, the Nicolastick is a bonus present thrown in for those who buy their tickets in advance for Army of One's release in Japan at select theaters: Cinema Shinjuku in Tokyo, Cinemart Shinsaibashi in Osaka, and Century Cinema in Aichi. The tickets go on sale October 13th, and customers who pre-order will have a package of Nicolasticks waiting for them at the theater along with their ticket for 1,500 yen.

Outside of wacky Sankyo pachinko commercials, Cage enjoys a bit of a fan base in Japan, along with not infrequent television appearances (usually promotional ones for films). While his popularity in Japan is likely what triggered the collaboration, perhaps his use of a katana in the film has something to do with it, as you can see in the poster below (the Japanese title is "Bin Laden is My Prey").