2026 marks 30 years since Nicolas Cage won his first and only Oscar for his performance in Leaving Las Vegas, the dark romance film co-starring Elisabeth Shue and Richard Lewis. Less than 10 years later, Cage earned his second nomination for his work in Adaptation, the 2002 high-concept comedy with Meryl Streep and Tilda Swinton. Cage has starred in some massive hits over the last 20 years, but Adaptation marked the most recent time he was recognized by the Academy for his performance. He recently featured in one of the biggest horror movies of 2024 with Longlegs, which came not long after he teamed up with Pedro Pascal for the critically acclaimed comedy,The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. Cage has been in dozens of projects of various genres just in the last few years.
One of the most intriguing projects of Cage’s career came just over 20 years ago when he starred in the cult-classic crime thriller, Lord of War. The 2005 R-rated true crime classic co-stars Ethan Hawke, Jared Leto, and Bridget Moynahan, and while it only grossed $72 million against a $50 million budget, it’s developed a massive fandom in the years since its release. A sequel to the film, titled Lords of War, has been in development for years now. It’s even begun production and is expected to wrap before the end of the year. This afternoon, news broke that Vertical Entertainment has officially acquired the film for distribution, eliminating any potential bidding war later down the line. The distributor will showcase the first footage from the film at CinemaCon next week and is likely eying 2027 for a potential release date.
What Is ‘Lords of War’ About?
Lord of War follows an Arms dealer, Yuri Orlov (played by Cage), who confronts the morality of his work while he is on the run from an INTERPOL agent. In the sequel, Yuri discovers that he has a son, Anton (played by Bill Skarsgård), who is trying to outdo his father by raising an army of mercenaries to fight in America’s Middle Eastern conflicts, setting off an intense rivalry between the two. Andrew Niccol, who wrote and directed the first film, is back to pen and helm the sequel, which co-stars Laura Harrier, Greg Tarzan, and Sylvia Hoeks.
Check out Lord of War on Prime Video and Pluto TV,
via Collider