Cage owns the production company Saturn Films and has produced films such as Shadow of the Vampire (2000) and The Life of David Gale (2003), and has directed Sonny (2002). For his contributions to the film industry, he was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1998. He was ranked No. 40 in Empire magazine's The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time list in 2007 and was placed No. 37 in Premiere's 100 Most Powerful People in Hollywood in 2008.
At age 15, he tried to convince his uncle, Francis Ford Coppola, to give him a screen test, telling him "I'll show you acting." His outburst was met with "silence in the car."[18] By this stage of his career, Coppola had already directed Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Gene Hackman and Robert De Niro. Although early in his career Cage appeared in some of his uncle's films, he changed his name to Nicolas Cage to avoid the appearance of nepotism as Coppola's nephew. His choice of name was inspired by the Marvel Comics superhero Luke Cage and composer John Cage.[19][20]
Career
1981–1988: Early work and breakthrough
Cage made his acting debut in the 1981 television pilot The Best of Times, which was never picked up by ABC.[21] His film debut followed in 1982, with a minor role as an unnamed co-worker of Judge Reinhold's character in the coming-of-age film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, having originally auditioned for Reinhold's part.[22] His experience on the film was marred by cast members endlessly quoting his uncle's films, which inspired him to change his name.[22] Cage's first starring role came opposite Deborah Foreman in the romantic comedy Valley Girl (1983), in which he played a punk who falls in love with the titular valley girl, a plot loosely inspired by Romeo and Juliet.[23] The film was a modest box office success and has been branded a cult classic.[24] He auditioned for the role of Dallas Winston in his uncle's film The Outsiders, based on S.E. Hinton's novel, but lost to Matt Dillon.[25] Cage, however, would co-star in Coppola's adaptation of another Hinton novel, Rumble Fish, in that year.[26]
In 1984, Cage appeared in three period films, none of which fared well at the box office. In the drama, Racing with the Moon (1984), Cage featured opposite Sean Penn as friends who are awaiting deployment to the United States Marine Corps.[27] In Coppola's crime drama The Cotton Club he portrayed a fictionalized version of mob hitman Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll, earning praise from critic Paul Attanasio for "artfully [using] his few moments to sketch a brawny, violent thug."[28] His final release of the year was Alan Parker's drama Birdy, in which he starred with Matthew Modine. Cage lost weight for the role and had two of his front teeth pulled out to appear disfigured.[29] Despite massively underperforming at the box office, the film, and Cage and Modine's performances, received positive reviews, with The New York Times critic Janet Maslin writing, "Mr. Cage very sympathetically captures Al's urgency and frustration. Together, these actors work miracles with what might have been unplayable."[30]
In 1989, Cage starred in the black comedy Vampire's Kiss as a man who falls in love with a vampire and soon begins to believe himself as a vampire. The film was a major box office flop but has developed a cult following largely due to Cage's surrealistic and over-the-top performance appearing in internet memes. Critic Vincent Canby felt the film was "dominated and destroyed by Mr. Cage's chaotic, self-indulgent performance."[35] After filming the Italian drama Time to Kill (1989) in Zimbabwe, he starred in David Lynch's romantic crime film Wild at Heart (1990) with Laura Dern. Cage was drawn to the project because he was "always attracted to those passionate, almost unbridled romantic characters" and it allowed him to impersonate one of his heroes, Elvis Presley, in scenes in which he sung.[20][36]Wild at Heart received mixed reviews upon release, despite controversially winning the Palme d'Or at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.[37] Cage would reunite with Lynch and Dern for the avant-garde concert performance Industrial Symphony No. 1.[38]
Also in 1990, he starred as a helicopter pilot in the action film Fire Birds, which was panned by critics and negatively compared to Top Gun (1986).[39] Cage's next film, the erotic thriller Zandalee (1991), was released direct-to-video in the United States, where it did not receive a theatrical release.[40] His "goofy 'everyman'" performance in the romantic comedy Honeymoon in Vegas (1992) garnered some positive critical notices,[41] including from Roger Ebert, who defended Cage amidst some critics finding his acting "excessive" and earned Cage his second Golden Globe nomination.[42][33] He hosted an episode of the variety show Saturday Night Live to promote the film, his only time hosting the show.[43]
In 1996, he starred alongside Sean Connery and Ed Harris in Michael Bay's The Rock, the first of a string of action films for Cage. In the film, he played an FBI chemical weapons specialist breaking into Alcatraz federal prison. The Rock was a box office and critical success, with journalist Alexander Larman stating the film "launched Cage into an unexpected vocation as an offbeat action star."[52] Next, he starred in Con Air and Face/Off, two commercially successful action thrillers that were both released in June 1997. Along with John Cusack and John Malkovich, Cage led an ensemble cast. Jerry Bruckheimer, Con Air's producer, offered the role to Cage after being impressed with his performances in Leaving Las Vegas and The Rock. Cage accepted despite disappointment at not being offered the villain role.[53] Ebert felt Cage "[made] the wrong choice... by playing Cameron Poe as a slow-witted Elvis type who is very, very earnest and approaches every task with tunnel vision; it would have been more fun if he'd been less of a hayseed."[54] John Woo's Face/Off saw Cage and John Travolta star in dual roles as sworn enemies—a terrorist and an FBI agent—who both undergo face transplants to impersonate each other, requiring Cage and Travolta to switch characters. Both performances were praised by critics, with the BBC writing in their review "Travolta and Cage invest their dual roles with physical subtleties that reflect the other actor's character."[55]
After starring in these action films back-to-back, Cage decided to "return to more serious fare" in the romantic fantasy film City of Angels (1998), a loose remake of the German film Wings of Desire (1987). Critics were split on the film and Cage's performance, with reviews ranging from describing him as "endlessly resourceful" and "[resembling] a serial killer more than an angel."[56][57]Brian De Palma's thriller Snake Eyes, his second film of 1998, starred Cage as a corrupt detective.[58] The film was met with mixed reviews, which were largely critical of its screenplay.[59]
Other films included Martin Scorsese's 1999 New York City paramedic drama Bringing Out the Dead[20] and Ridley Scott's 2003 black comedy crime film Matchstick Men, in which he played a con artist with obsessive–compulsive disorder.[60] Most of Cage's movies that have achieved financial success were in the action/adventure genre. These include The Rock,[61]Con Air,[62]Face/Off,[62] and Gone in 60 Seconds, with Cage as a retired car thief.[63] He took the lead role in the 2001 film Captain Corelli's Mandolin and learned to play the mandolin from scratch for the part.[64][65] In 2002, he was again nominated for Oscar and Golden Globe best actor awards for his portrayal of real-life screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and Kaufman's fictional twin Donald in Adaptation.[66] Cage made his directorial debut in 2002 with Sonny, a low-budget drama starring James Franco as a male prostitute whose mother (Brenda Blethyn) serves as his pimp. Cage had a small role in the film, which received poor reviews and a short run in a limited number of theaters.[20][67] Cage's producing career includes Shadow of the Vampire, the first effort from Saturn Films.[68]
In his second-highest-grossing film to date, National Treasure, he plays an eccentric historian who goes on a dangerous adventure to find treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers of the United States.[69] In 2005, two films he headlined, Lord of War and The Weather Man,[70] failed to find a significant audience despite nationwide releases and good reviews for his performances.[71] The 2006 remake of The Wicker Man was very poorly reviewed, and failed to make back its $40-million budget.[72][73] In early December 2006, Cage announced at the Bahamas International Film Festival that he planned to curtail his future acting endeavors to pursue other interests. On The Dresden Files for the Sci-Fi Channel, Cage is listed as the executive producer.[74] The much-criticized Ghost Rider (2007), based on the Marvel Comics character, fared better, earning more than $45million (the top earner) during its opening weekend and over $208million worldwide through the weekend ending on March 25, 2007.[75] Also in 2007, he had a small but notable role as the Chinese criminal mastermind Dr. Fu Manchu in Rob Zombie's fake trailer Werewolf Women of the S.S. from the B-moviedouble featureGrindhouse[76] and starred in Next, which shared the concept of a glimpse into an alternate timeline with Cage's film,[77]The Family Man (2000).[78]
In November 2007, Cage was spotted backstage at a Ring of Honor wrestling show in New York City researching for the lead role for The Wrestler. However, Cage dropped out of production shortly afterward because he felt that he did not have enough time to prepare for the role and director Darren Aronofsky preferred Mickey Rourke for the lead role. Rourke would go on to receive an Academy Award nomination for his performance.[79][80] In an interview with /Film, Aronofsky said of Cage's decision to leave the film that "Nic was a complete gentleman, and he understood that my heart was with Mickey and he stepped aside. I have so much respect for Nic Cage as an actor and I think it really could have worked with Nic but ... you know, Nic was incredibly supportive of Mickey and he is old friends with Mickey and really wanted to help with this opportunity, so he pulled himself out of the race."[81]
In 2008, Cage appeared as Joe, a contract killer who undergoes a change of heart while on a work outing in Bangkok, in the film Bangkok Dangerous. The film is shot by the Pang Brothers and has a distinctly South-East Asian flavor.[82] In 2009, Cage starred in the science fiction thriller Knowing, directed by Alex Proyas. In the film, he plays an MIT professor who examines the contents of a time capsule unearthed at his son's elementary school. Startling predictions found inside the capsule that have already come true lead him to believe that the world is going to end at the close of the week and that he and his son are somehow involved in the destruction.[83] The film received mixed reviews but was the box office winner on its opening weekend.[84]
Also in 2009, Cage starred in the film Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, directed by acclaimed German director Werner Herzog.[85] He portrayed a corrupt police officer with gambling, drug and alcohol addictions. The film was very well received by critics, holding a rating of 87% positive reviews on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes.[86] Cage was lauded for his performance, with Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune writing "Herzog has found his ideal interpreter, a performer whose truth lies deep in the artifice of performance: ladies and gentlemen, Nicolas Cage, at his finest."[87] This film reunited Cage with Eva Mendes, who played his love interest in Ghost Rider.[88] In 2010, Cage starred in The Sorcerer's Apprentice, in which he played the sorcerer, and the next year, headlined the period piece Season of the Witch, as a 14th-century knight transporting a woman accused of causing the Black Plague to a monastery.[89] In 2011, Cage reprised his role in Ghost Rider's sequel Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.[90]
In 2013, Cage was involved in many projects. Notable films including animated film The Croods, in which he voiced a character named Grug Crood. The Croods received positive reviews from critics and was a box-office success grossing $585million against a budget of $135million.[91] He starred as main character in The Frozen Ground, a thrillercrimedrama film directed and written by Scott Walker in his directorial debut, based on the crimes of real-life Alaskan serial killerRobert Hansen.[92] The film, reunited him with Cusack, depicts an Alaskan State Trooper, played by Cage, seeking to apprehend Hansen, played by Cusack, by partnering with a young woman who escaped from Hansen's clutches. The film has received mixed reviews though Cage's performance was cited as a highlight and solid.[93][94] He also starred in Joe, an independentcrimedrama film directed and co-produced by David Gordon Green, adaptation from Larry Brown's 1991 novel of the same name. In this film Nicolas Cage is a tormented man who hires a 15-year-old boy (played by Tye Sheridan) and protects him from his abusive father. The film premiered at the 70th Venice International Film Festival on August 30, 2013,[95][96] with a subsequent screening at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.[97] It was a box office flop, grossing only $2.36million from a $4million budget, but received critical acclaim from critics, who praised Cage's performance and Green's direction.
The 2016 black comedy Dog Eat Dog, Cage's second film with Paul Schrader, reunited him with Willem Dafoe (after Wild at Heart) as a pair of ex-convicts hired to kidnap a baby.[98] The film had its premiere as the closing entry for the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 2016.[99] It was released on November 4, 2016, in the United States.[100]Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film four out of five stars, writing, "It's the right director for the right project and the result is Schrader's best for years: a lairy, nasty, tasty crime thriller built on black-comic chaos."[101]Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "A rare film to have been shot in Cleveland, Dog Eat Dog definitely looks like it was shot on the cheap but puts what it needs to up on the screen with vigor and wit."[102]
In 2018, Cage starred in the action thriller film Mandy,[108] which premiered on January 19 at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.[109] Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com praised the movie, writing that "for all of the endless feral performances that Cage has given, in movies good, bad and forgettable, Cosmatos' style-driven, '80s-tastic passion for weird worlds and characters takes full advantage of Cage's greatness, and then some."[110] In October, Mandy's producer Elijah Wood announced his intention to size up an Oscar campaign for Nicolas Cage and for composer Jóhann Jóhannsson (who died in February of that year)[111] but the film was disqualified because it was also released on Video On Demand on September 14.[112][113][114][115]
In December 2018, it was announced that Cage had signed to play the lead role for Richard Stanley's Color Out of Space, based on the short story "The Colour Out of Space" by H. P. Lovecraft.[120] This was Stanley's first feature film directed since his firing from The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996).[121]Color Out of Space premiered on September 7, 2019, in the Midnight Madness portion of the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, where Cage was awarded for his role with the Creative Coalition's Spotlight Initiative Award.[122][123] Following select preview screenings on January 22, the film was released in 81 theaters in the United States on January 24, 2020.[124]
In December 2018, it was announced that Sion Sono was working on his first overseas production and English-language debut, Prisoners of the Ghostland, starring Nicolas Cage. Cage said the film "might be the wildest movie I've ever made."[125] Its plot revolves around a notorious criminal, Hero (played by Cage), who is sent to rescue the governor's adopted granddaughter, who has disappeared into a dark region called Ghostland.[126] The film had its world premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 31, 2021.[127]
In May 2020, it was announced that Cage would be playing the role of Joe Exotic in a scripted eight-episode Tiger King series, written and executive produced by Dan Lagana.[128] It was announced that the project was scrapped in July 2021.[129] In 2013, it was confirmed that Nicolas Cage would reprise his role as Grug in The Croods: A New Age, which was released in 2020.[130]
Cage produced and starred in the 2021 film Pig, where he plays Robin "Rob" Feld, a former chef turned reclusive truffle-forager who must return to his past in Portland in search of his beloved foraging pig after she is kidnapped. Cage received critical acclaim for his performance and earned a second nomination for the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor.[131] He gained further acclaim for portraying a fictionalized version of himself in the 2022 action comedy film The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent as well as for his portrayal of Paul, a professor who begins appearing in the dreams of others, in the 2023 Dream Scenario, resulting in his fifth Golden Globe nomination.[132][133]
In early 2023, it was announced Cage was set to play a live action version of Peter Parker / Spider-Man Noir on Amazon Prime Video. The show would take place in an alternate 1930s New York City.[139][140] In July 2024, the show was confirmed to be titled Spider-Noir.[141] Filming began in September 2024 in Los Angeles.[142] Also in July, Cage starred as the titular serial killer in the horror thriller film Longlegs, which he produced.[143]
The fine, ever-elusive art of Nouveau Shamanic —Will Ashton, CinemaBlend[144]
Nouveau Shamanic is a style of acting developed by Cage. Cage has said it is to increase one's imagination without restraint in avoidance of experiencing the sense of being ingenuous.[145][146]
The process itself is about: How do you augment your imagination in a healthy way? So that you can believe you're these characters… You don't feel like you're acting, you feel like you're being.
—Nicolas Cage
Examples
In the film Vampire's Kiss Cage transforms from method acting to "Nouveau Shamanic." The scene where Cage recites the alphabet to his psychiatrist was a result of acting out of impulse.[146]
Raising Arizona showcases just how physically engaging Nouveau Shamanic can become. Not holding back proves to add to the unique effect this method has on the audience.[146]
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance is a display of how the Nouveau Shamanic method transcribes to the screen with impulse decisions fueled by an energy one could only garner naturally.[147] Cage was asked if any of his numerous pets influence his acting, to which he replied "The cobras, definitely. They would try to hypnotize you by going side to side, and when I did Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, that's something my character does before he attacks. Animals are fun places to get inspiration."[146]
Reception
"In Cage's hands, cartoonish moments are imbued with real emotion and real emotions become cartoons. Everything – from individual scenes down to single lines of dialogue – feel like they have been embraced as opportunities for creation. Cage is usually interesting even when his films are not. He is erratic and unpredictable; he is captivating and he is capricious. He is a performer. He is a troubadour. He is a jazz musician."
According to The Guardian film critic Luke Buckmaster, "any casual observer can see that Cage is entertaining, charismatic and wildly flamboyant." Attributing it partly to the "well-cultured" background of Cage's family, Buckmaster said the actor "is clearly attracted to grotesque characters and is celebrated for his wild and unhinged approach to them. He has the presence of a leading man, and the eccentricities of a character actor." Actor Ethan Hawke stated in 2013 that Cage is "the only actor since Marlon Brando that's actually done anything new with the art", crediting him for taking film audiences "away from an obsession with naturalism into a kind of presentation style of acting that I imagine was popular with the old troubadours."[149]
Film director David Lynch described him as "the jazz musician of American acting."[148] Many critics have accused Cage of overacting.[148] Others, including Cage himself, have described his intentionally extreme performances as "mega-acting."[31][150] After the actor's series of mainstream-marketed thriller films during the late 1990s, Sean Penn told The New York Times in 1999 that Cage was "no longer an actor" but "more like a performer."[151] Despite this, in his speech after winning the Oscar for his performance in Mystic River, Penn described Cage's work (in Matchstick Men) as one of the best performances of 2003.[152]
During the 2010s, a growing number of film critics described Cage as one of the most underrated actors of his generation.[153][154][155]
He also won a Golden Globe award, Screen Actors Guild award, and many more awards for Leaving Las Vegas. He has received nominations by the Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, and BAFTA for his films Adaptation, Honeymoon in Vegas, and Moonstruck.[160] He has also won and been nominated for many other awards.
Personal life
Relationships and family
Cage has been married five times and has three children (with Fulton, Kim and Shibata, respectively).
In 1988, Cage began dating actress Christina Fulton, with whom he has a son, Weston Coppola Cage (born December 26, 1990). Weston has been involved in two black metal bands, and appeared in his father's film Lord of War as a helicopter mechanic, and in the 2014 film Rage as Nicolas's character younger. Through Weston, Cage has two grandsons born in 2014 and 2016.[161] In July 2024, Weston was arrested for assaulting numerous people with a deadly weapon, including his mother; he was released on a $150,000 bond.[162][163]
Cage's first wife was actress Patricia Arquette, whom he married in April 1995 and divorced in 2001.[164]
His second marriage was to singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis and Priscilla Presley. (Cage, an Elvis fan, used Elvis as the inspiration for his performance in Wild at Heart.) They married in Kamuela, Hawaii, on August 10, 2002, and filed for divorce 107 days later on November 25, 2002. The divorce was finalized on May 24, 2004.[165]
Cage's third wife was Alice Kim. They were married at a private ranch in northern California on July 30, 2004.[166] She gave birth to their son Kal-El (after Superman's birth name) on October 3, 2005.[167] They divorced in January 2016.[168]
In March 2019, Cage married Erika Koike in Las Vegas, only to file for annulment four days later,[169] stating he was too intoxicated to understand his own actions and that Koike failed to disclose "the full nature and extent of her relationship with another person."[170][171] He was granted a divorce from Koike three months later.[172]
On February 16, 2021, Cage married Riko Shibata.[173] Their daughter, August Francesca, was born on September 7, 2022.[174]
Political views and religious beliefs
Cage grew up in a family of Catholic background, but does not talk about religion publicly and refuses to answer religion-connected questions in his interviews.[10] When asked about whether he could relate to his character's lack of religious belief in Knowing, Cage replied, "You know, any of my personal beliefs or opinions run the risk of impinging on your own relationship with the movie. I think movies are best left enigmatic. Left raising more questions than answers. I don't want to ever preach, so that's what you get from a movie; that's far more interesting than anything I could offer."[175]
At one point in his life, Cage had decided that he wanted to develop the philosophical aspect of his nature, and he went on a quest to find the Holy Grail. Cage traveled to England to look for it, but also looked at some areas of the United States.[146][178]
Charitable activities
Cage has been called one of the most generous stars in Hollywood.[179] He donated $2million to Amnesty International for them to use to offer rehabilitation shelters, medical services and psychological and reintegration services to some of the 300,000 children forced to fight in conflicts across the world.[180] He has also donated $1million to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.[181] He became the first artist to support ArtWorks, an artist engagement program to raise awareness of fundamental rights at work, including freedom from slavery and from child labor.[182] During 2023, while filming The Surfer in Western Australia, Cage personally phoned in an AU$5,000 donation to the Channel Seven Perth Telethon.[183]
Cage has also been honored with a Humanitarian award from the United Nations for his works and appointed as a UN ambassador for Global Justice in 2009 and again in 2013.[184] He led a campaign around the film Lord of War to raise awareness about international arms control, supported "Heal the Bay", the United Negro College Fund efforts, and the Royal United Hospital's Forever Friends Appeal to build intensive care units for babies.[185][186]
Interests
Cage, an avid comic book fan, auctioned a collection of 400 vintage comics through Heritage Auctions for over $1.6million in 2002.[187] In 2007, he created a comic book with his son Weston, called Voodoo Child, which was published by Virgin Comics.[188] Cage is a fan and collector of painter and underground comic artist Robert Williams. He has written introductions for Juxtapoz magazine and purchased the painting Death on the Boards.[189]
Real estate and tax problems
Schloss Neidstein in Bavaria was owned by Cage between 2007 and 2009.
Cage was once considered one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors, earning $40million in 2009 according to Forbes, although he failed to make Forbes' Top 10 List in 2014.[190][191] In 2004 he bought a property on Paradise Island, Bahamas. In May 2006, he bought a 40-acre (16ha) island in the Exuma archipelago, some 85 miles (137km) southeast of Nassau and close to a similar island owned by Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.[192] He bought the medieval castle Schloss Neidstein in the Oberpfalz region in Germany in 2006 and sold it in 2009 for $2.5million. His grandmother was German, living in Cochem an der Mosel.[193]
In August 2007, Cage purchased "Grey Craig", a 24,000-square-foot (2,200m2) brick-and-stone country manor in Middletown, Rhode Island. With an estate occupying 26 acres (11ha), the home has 12 bedrooms and 10 full bathrooms and overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. It borders the Norman Bird Sanctuary to the west. The sale ranked among the state of Rhode Island's most expensive residential purchases.[194][195] Also in 2007, Cage purchased Midford Castle in Somerset, England.[196][197] Shortly after selling his German castle, Cage also put his homes in Rhode Island, Louisiana, Nevada, and California, as well as a $7-million island in the Bahamas, on the market.[198]
On July 14, 2009, the Internal Revenue Service filed documents in New Orleans in connection with a federal tax lien against property owned by Cage in Louisiana, concerning unpaid federal taxes. The IRS alleged that Cage failed to pay over $6.2million in federal income tax for the year 2007.[199] In addition, the Internal Revenue Service had another lien for more than $350,000 in unpaid taxes dating from 2002 to 2004.[200] Cage filed a $20-million lawsuit on October 16, 2009, against his business manager, Samuel J. Levin, alleging negligence and fraud.[201] The lawsuit stated that Levin "had failed to pay taxes when they were due and had placed [Cage] in speculative and risky real estate investments 'resulting in (the actor) suffering catastrophic losses.'"[201] Cage also faced separate lawsuits from East West Bank[202] and Red Curb Investments for unpaid, multi-million dollar loans.
The LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans was purchased anonymously by Cage in 2007 and sold in 2009.
Samuel Levin filed a counter-complaint and responded to the lawsuit in a filing stating that he warned Cage that he was living beyond his means and urged him to spend less. Levin's filing states that "instead of listening to Levin, cross-defendant Cage (Coppola) spent most of his free time shopping for high ticket purchases, and wound up with 15 personal residences." Levin's complaint continued: "Likewise, Levin advised Coppola against buying a Gulfstream jet, against buying and owning a flotilla of yachts, against buying and owning a squadron of Rolls Royces, against buying millions of dollars in jewelry and art."[203]
In his filing, Levin said that in 2007, Cage's "shopping spree entailed the purchase of three additional residences at a total cost of more than $33 million; the purchase of 22 automobiles (including 9 Rolls Royces), 12 purchases of expensive jewelry, and 47 purchases of artwork and exotic items."[203] One of those items was a dinosaur skull of a Tarbosaurus. After discovering that it was stolen, he returned it to the Mongolian authorities.[204]
According to Cage, he owned the "Most Haunted House in America", a home located in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana.[205] Known as "The LaLaurie House" after its former owner Delphine LaLaurie, the house was foreclosed and sold at auction on November 12, 2009, along with another New Orleans property for a total of $5.5million, in the wake of Cage's financial problems.[206] His Bel Air home, which had six loans totaling $18million on it, failed to sell at an April 2010 foreclosure auction despite an opening offer of $10.4million, substantially less than the $35million that Cage had originally tried to sell it for. The home, built in 1940 for $110,000 (equivalent to $2.39million in 2023), had been owned at different times by Dean Martin and singer Tom Jones.[190]
The home eventually sold in November 2010 for $10.5million.[207] Another home in Nevada also faced foreclosure auction.[206] In November 2011, Cage sold his Action Comics #1 in an online auction managed by Heritage Auctions for a record-breaking $2.16million (the previous record being $1.5million), to assist paying his tax liens and other debts. Cage purchased the comic in 1997 for $110,000.[208] The comic had been stolen from him in 2000, and Cage had received an insurance payment on the item. In March 2011, it was found in a storage locker in the San Fernando Valley and was verified by ComicConnect.com to be the copy sold to Cage previously.[209] Worth around $25million by May 2017, Cage was reportedly "taking [film] roles left and right" in order to pay off his remaining debts.[210] By 2022, Cage confirmed that he had finally paid off his debts and intended to be more selective with his film roles.[211]
Christina Fulton sued Cage in December 2009 for $13million and for the house in which she was living. The suit was in response to an order that she leave the dwelling; the order resulted from Cage's financial difficulties.[216] The case was settled in June 2011.[217]
Cage was arrested in New Orleans' French Quarter district on April 15, 2011, for suspicion of domestic abuse battery, disturbing the peace and public intoxication. A police officer was flagged down by onlookers after Cage allegedly grabbed his wife's upper arm while appearing to be under the influence of alcohol.[218] Cage was held in police custody until a bail of $11,000 was posted by Duane "Dog" Chapman.[219] He was later ordered to appear in court on May 31, 2011.[220] The New Orleans District Attorney announced that the charges against Cage had been dropped on May 5, 2011.[221][222]
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Sofia Carmina Coppola is an American filmmaker and former actress. She has won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Golden Lion, and a Cannes Film Festival Award. She was also nominated for three BAFTA Awards, as well as a Primetime Emmy Award.
Jason Schwartzman is an American actor and musician. Schwartzman made his film debut in Wes Anderson's 1998 film Rushmore, and has since appeared in six other Anderson films: The Darjeeling Limited (2007), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), The French Dispatch (2021), and Asteroid City (2023). He also has co-writing credit on The Darjeeling Limited.
Mary Elle Fanning is an American actress. She made her film debut as a child as the younger version of her sister Dakota Fanning's character in the drama film I Am Sam (2001). She appeared in several other films as a child actress, including Daddy Day Care (2003), Babel (2006), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Phoebe in Wonderland, and the miniseries The Lost Room (2006). She then had leading roles in Sofia Coppola's drama Somewhere (2010) and J. J. Abrams' science fiction film Super 8 (2011).
The Godfather is a 1972 American epic gangster film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast including Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Richard Castellano, Robert Duvall, Sterling Hayden, John Marley, Richard Conte and Diane Keaton. It is the first installment in The Godfather trilogy, chronicling the Corleone family under patriarch Vito Corleone (Brando) from 1945 to 1955. It focuses on the transformation of his youngest son, Michael Corleone (Pacino), from reluctant family outsider to ruthless mafia boss.
The Outsiders is a 1983 American coming-of-age crime drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film is an adaptation of the 1967 novel of the same name by S. E. Hinton and was released on March 25, 1983, in the United States. Jo Ellen Misakian, a librarian at Lone Star Elementary School in Fresno, California, and her students were responsible for inspiring Coppola to make the film.
DC Comics's Superman franchise, based on the character of the same name created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in June 1938, has seen the release of various films since its inception. The character debuted in cinemas in a series of animated shorts beginning in 1941 and was the protagonist of two movie serials in 1948 and 1950. An independent studio, Lippert Pictures, released the first Superman feature film, Superman and the Mole Men, starring George Reeves, in 1951. In 1973, the film rights to the Superman character were purchased by Ilya Salkind, Alexander Salkind, and Pierre Spengler. After multiple scripts and several years in development, Richard Donner was hired as director, and he shot two films, Superman (1978), and Superman II (1980), at the same time, both starring Christopher Reeve. Donner had filmed eighty percent of Superman II before it was decided to finish shooting the first film. The Salkinds fired Donner after Superman's release and commissioned Richard Lester as the director to finish Superman II. Lester returned to direct Superman III (1983). The Salkinds also produced the spin-off Supergirl (1984). They then sold the rights to Cannon Films, which produced the poorly reviewed Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987). Ilya Salkind commissioned a fifth Superman script before Warner Bros. acquired the rights in 1993.
Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius, and Michael Herr, is loosely inspired by the 1899 novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, with the setting changed from late 19th-century Congo to the Vietnam War. The film follows a river journey from South Vietnam into Cambodia undertaken by Captain Willard, who is on a secret mission to assassinate Colonel Kurtz, a renegade Special Forces officer who is accused of murder and presumed insane. The ensemble cast also features Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest, Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Laurence Fishburne, Dennis Hopper, and Harrison Ford.
August Floyd Coppola was an American academic, author, film executive, and advocate for the arts. He was the brother of director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire, and the father of actor Nicolas Cage, radio DJ Marc Coppola and director Christopher Coppola.
Adam Douglas Driver is an American actor. Recognized for his collaborations with auteur filmmakers, he is the recipient of various accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award.
Nicolas Cage is an American actor whose career began with a role in the 1981 television pilot The Best of Times. The following year, Cage made his feature film acting debut with a minor role in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the second and last time he went by his birth name Nicolas Coppola, which he changed professionally to avoid allegations of nepotism due to his connection to the Coppola family. In 1983, Cage starred in the teen romantic comedy Valley Girl alongside Deborah Foreman and had a supporting role in his uncle Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish.
Maika Monroe is an American actress. She made her film debut with the drama At Any Price (2012), and led the thriller film The Guest and the horror film It Follows, which established her as a scream queen. She starred in the thrillers Greta (2018) and Watcher (2022) as well as the horror film Longlegs (2024).
Mandy is a 2018 American action horror dark fantasy film directed by Panos Cosmatos, from a screenplay by Cosmatos and Aaron Stewart-Ahn, and based on a story by Cosmatos. Starring Nicolas Cage, Andrea Riseborough, Linus Roache, Ned Dennehy, Olwen Fouéré, Richard Brake, and Bill Duke, the film follows Red Miller (Cage), a lumberjack seeking vengeance against cult leader Jeremiah Sand (Roache), as well as his devout followers, for the murder of his girlfriend, Mandy Bloom (Riseborough).
Renfield is a 2023 American action comedy horror film directed by Chris McKay and written by Ryan Ridley, based on a story by Robert Kirkman, who also served as a producer alongside McKay, Samantha Nisenboim, David Alpert, and the duo of Bryan and Sean Furst. Inspired by characters from the 1897 novel Dracula by Bram Stoker and its 1931 feature film adaption, the film stars Nicholas Hoult, Awkwafina, Ben Schwartz, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Brandon Scott Jones, Adrian Martinez, and Nicolas Cage.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent is a 2022 American action comedy film directed by Tom Gormican, who co-wrote the screenplay with Kevin Etten. It stars Nicolas Cage as a fictionalized version of himself, along with a supporting cast including Pedro Pascal, Sharon Horgan, Ike Barinholtz, Alessandra Mastronardi, Jacob Scipio, Neil Patrick Harris, Tiffany Haddish and Caroline Boulton.
↑ Allen, Nick (January 20, 2018). "Sundance 2018: Mandy". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Archived from the original on February 22, 2018. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
↑ Rappaport, Scott (May 26, 2003). "Nicolas Cage visits UCSC". UC Santa Cruz Currents. Archived from the original on November 30, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
↑ Werner, Frank (August 10, 2006). "Liebeserklärung ans neue Heim"[Declaration of love for a new home]. Onetz (in German). Archived from the original on February 15, 2008. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
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