Nicolas Cage remains one of the busiest actors working – and we’ve rounded up all the films he’s sending our way soon.
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It’s fair to say that Nicolas Cage is somebody who has earned his place in the film industry through hard work. Not just hard work, in fact, but continuous work. Cage always has a sizeable bank of films on his slate, and in recent times he’s become notable for making three, four, five movies a year. Trying to keep on top of them is a challenge in itself and if only there was a tinpot website that could do the work for you.
Right then. As of the date of publication, Cage has eight films that we know of in various stages of production. Some are filmed, some are in pre-production. All exist, and that’s the main thing. Here’s what’s coming up…
First up is Dream Scenario. The plot is being kept under wraps, but Cage has a sizeable cast surrounding him here, including Michael Cera, Julianne Nicholson, Dylan Baker, Kate Berlant, Tim Meadows, Jennifer Wigmore, Lily Bird, Dominic Di Rosa, David Klein and Will Corno. Kristoffer Borgl is writing and directing.
Then, we have Longlegs. This is another one whose plot is being kept under wraps, and the only confirmed cast member is Cage himself. Actor Oz Perkins is writing and directing.
Sand And Stones is currently in production and, thankfully, we do know a bit more about this one. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic and sparsely populated world where Paul and his twin teenage sons, Joseph and Thomas, have managed to claw out an existence, yet live in constant fear. Until, confronted by imminent danger, they must execute a desperate plan to survive. Cage will play Paul, alongside Jaeden Martell and Maxwell Jenkins will play Joseph and Thomas, respectively. Sadie Soverall has also been cast in an undisclosed role. Ben Brewer directs from a screenplay by Mike Nilon.
Sympathy For The Devil, meanwhile, is set to be an intense thriller. The synopsis reads as follows: After being forced to drive a mysterious passenger at gunpoint, a man finds himself in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse where it becomes clear that not everything is as it seems. So that sounds fun.
Yuval Adler is directing from a screenplay by Luke Paradise. Cage will play The Passenger to Joel Kinnaman’s Driver. Also starring are Kaiwi Lyman, Cameron Lee Pryce, Nancy Good, Rich Hopkins, the terrifically named Burns Burns, Danny Tesla, Alexis Zollicoffer, Annisse White and Oliver McCallum.
Next up is the unconventional vampire tale Renfield, Cage’s first big studio film in donkeys, which tells the story of Dracula’s henchman. Unfulfilled in his work, Renfield falls in love with a traffic cop. It is set in the modern day and is described as a comedy. Cage is playing Dracula to Nicholas Hoult’s Renfield. Awkwafina plays traffic cop Rebecca. Jenna Kanell, Ben Schwartz, Adrian Martinez, and Shohreh Aghdashloo also feature. Chris McKay directed from a screenplay by Community writers Robert Kirkman and Ryan Ridley. It’s in post-production and scheduled to be released in the UK on 14th April 2023.
Joyfully, we’ll also get to see Cage headlining his first Western next year, with the release of The Old Way. This one will see the son of a man Cage’s gunslinger murdered years previously return to enact his revenge. Clint Howard, Kerry Knuppe, Abraham Benrubi, Ryan Kia Armstrong and Shiloh Fernandez co-star. Brett Donowho directs from a screenplay by Carl W. Lucas. It’s set to be released on the 6th January 2023. At the time of writing, it’s the next Cage treat. A fine way to start the new year.
Another Western is coming up, too, with Cage starring in Butcher’s Crossing. It’s based on the 1960 novel of the same name by John Williams, which sees a Harvard student leave his life behind to explore the American West. Butcher’s Crossing is the name of the fictional town in which the story begins and ends. The film, directed by Gabe Polsky, had its debut at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, but there’s no UK release date thus far.
Lastly, we have The Retirement Plan. The synopsis for this crime caper has been issued, and reads as follows: In The Retirement Plan, when Ashley (Ashley Greene) and her young daughter Sarah (Thalia Campbell) get caught up in a criminal enterprise that puts their lives at risk, she turns to the only person who can help – her estranged father Matt (Nicolas Cage), currently living the life of a retired beach bum in the Cayman Islands. Their reunion is fleeting as they are soon tracked down on the island by crime boss Donnie (Jackie Earle Haley) and his lieutenant Bobo (Ron Perlman). As Ashley, Sarah and Matt become entangled in an increasingly dangerous web, Ashley quickly learns her father had a secret past that she knew nothing about and that there is more to her father than meets the eye.
Ashley Green and Thalia Campbell co-star as Sarah and her daughter, respectively, alongside Jackie Earle Haley, Ron Perlman, Ernie Hudson and Joel David Moore. The film was due to be released this year but has apparently not been as of yet.
That’s quite an eclectic range of films, and proves that Cage has really not changed his ethos since the halcyon days of Vampire’s Kiss – he will commit fully to any project, no matter how wild or wacky the scenario or character. It’s good to know that, in a age saturated with superhero blockbusters and tentpole films, we can always rely on Nicolas Cage to champion original and, occasionally, leftfield stories.
All hail Cage.
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