For around a 10 year range Nicolas Cage was one of the hottest names in movies. In 1995 he came out with Leaving Las Vegas and had so many great hits such as The Rock, Con Air, Face/Off and City of Angels. Then he had his two National Treasure movies and Adaption. The hits were amazing, the awards and money came in, but then he went out of the main stream.
Starting in 2012 he was still making movies, but they were never in the limelight or big money productions. But why? What happened? Nicolas Cage’s move away from major studio blockbusters wasn’t a single choice, but rather a perfect storm of financial ruin, consecutive box-office flops, and a growing personal preference for independent filmmaking.
Around 2009, Cage found himself in a dire financial situation. While he was known for eccentric purchases (castles, dinosaur skulls, private islands), he attributed his primary downfall to the 2008 real estate crash. He also noted that his relationship with major studios, particularly Disney, soured after a string of high-profile flops in the early 2010s.
As Cage worked through his debt, he rediscovered a passion for the creative flexibility that smaller budgets allowed. He officially finished paying off all his debts roughly a year and a half before the release of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022). He is now entering a self-described "selective" era, where he intends to prioritize quality and personal connection to the material over volume.
So, Nicolas Cage may have vanished from main stream movies we all see each day, but he is still out there doing his thing. But take a minute and look back at a few of the great movies he gave us over the years! And I will always remember him for providing me with wonderful entertainment thru the years.
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