FIRST LOOK
First Look: Nicolas Cage in Paul Schrader's Film 'Dying of the Light'
by Alex Billington
September 24, 2014
Source: Variety
Wait - Paul Schrader, screenwriter of Raging Bull & Taxi Driver and director of American Gigolo, cast Nicolas Cage in his new film? This has to be a joke? Nope. It's real, and it's already shot and finishing up for 2015 release. Schrader's new "mid-budget indie", which he wrote and directed, is titled Dying of the Light executive produced by fellow filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn. What a team-up this is: Schrader, Refn, Cage. Who else? Well, the cast includes Anton Yelchin (also seen in the photo), Alexander Karim and Irène Jacob. I won't deny that I'm curious about this. Take a look at the image below, which doesn't reveal much about the way this will play. Of all the recent Cage films, this is the one I'm most interested in.
Here's the first photo from Paul Schrader's film Dying of the Light, debuted by Variety (via SlashFilm):
The project has been in development for years, with a number of troubles along the way. It was originally written as a spec script in 2010 by Paul Schrader. At the time, Nicolas Winding Refn got attached to direct and was looking at casting Harrison Ford before that fell apart. The project finally came together and was filmed last year. More help was needed so anonymous Facebook page to "Save Paul Schrader's Dying of the Light" was launched this year. Now the film will see the light of day in 2015 - there's still no release date.
What is Schrader's Dying of the Light about? Cage stars as a CIA agent who tracks an elusive terrorist while battling the debilitating effects of frontotemporal dementia - causing "significant changes in social and personal behavior, apathy, blunting of emotions, and deficits in both expressive and receptive language". But watch out: "Paul's cut of the movie deviated substantially from his own script," says the producers. "It was a completely different movie from the movie that was greenlit, the movie that was discussed and the movie that was shot." They're still releasing it despite some trepidation. We'll have to wait for more updates.
10 Comments
1
Wow, that wig certainly adds the years quickly.
DAVIDPD on Sep 24, 2014
2
This sounds great. Cage has good performances locked away.
Xerxexx on Sep 24, 2014
3
I hate hearing about this happening to a creator's original plans for a film. I don't think I could take a studio messing around with it that much - I'd just quit.
OfficialJab on Sep 24, 2014
4
Wait - Paul Schrader, screenwriter of Raging Bull & Taxi Driver and director of American Gigolo, castNicolas Cage in his new film? Don't forget The Canyons.
Mike P. on Sep 24, 2014
5
"significant changes in social and personal behaviour, apathy, blunting of emotions, and deficits in both expressive and receptive language" Sounds like a perfect Nic Cage role to me. No?
Huck PS on Sep 24, 2014
6
Geez, how many movies does Cage make a year...hell, a month?! I feel like in the past month of September there's been like five separate articles showcasing Cage in five separate movies??!!
JBrotsis on Sep 25, 2014
8
As much as we all love to hate Nic - and trust me, he deserves it - it's also true that he can be a tremendous actor in powerful roles when he feels like it and doesn't need to pad his bank account. I'm not convinced this is one of those roles, but it's always possible, and it certainly has more hope than "Ghost Rider 7: Nic Owes the Bank".
Wafffles on Sep 25, 2014
9
Thought this might be about the George RR Martin Novel of the same name.
ColtNoir on Sep 25, 2014
10
I really like Anton. I hope this film doesn't drag him down. Everyone should see Odd Thomas, I loved it. He was excellent in it. I hope his career goes well.
TravisaurusRex on Sep 25, 2014
New comments are no longer allowed on this post.
FEATURED POSTS
FOLLOW FS HERE
Follow Alex's main account on Twitter:
Add our posts to your Feedly › click here
Get all the news sent on Telegram 
LATEST TO WATCH