This past week at the Sundance Film Festival, Nicolas Cage unveiled his latest dive into the recesses of madness with Prisoners of the Ghostland, a lurid odyssey that's a curious cross between Escape from New York, Mad Max, Yojimbo, and Suicide Squad. Therefore, as you can imagine, it's a pretty nutty movie. But in a decades-spanning cinematic career filled with maniacal movies, this one might very well be the maddest — at least, according to Nicolas Cage himself.
In an interview prior to the movie's premiere, Nicolas Cage claimed that Prisoners of the Ghostland might very well be his "wildest" movie yet, which would certainly be saying something. The movie is, admittedly, filled with absurd, delirious, and bombastic moments, but what does the director think? In an exclusive interview, we asked legendary filmmaker Sion Sono what he thought about Cage's comments and whether he agreed with the actor's statement. Here's what he said:
Well, my favorite Nic Cage film [is] Wild at Heart, [so] I would think Wild at Heart would be the wildest film for Nic Cage. But if people — or Nic Cage — consider this movie to be the absolute wildest, then that's such an honor.
Expectedly, Sion Sono is being coy. In a massive career filled with several high points, it's hard to know which movie might very well be Nicolas Cage's maddest, especially when he seemingly does everything he can to top the crazy factor with each consecutive project. Personally, I'd have to agree with Sono. It's hard to top Wild At Heart when it comes to Cage's wildest work. It's literally in the title, after all. But I'm also inclined to think Face/Off, Vampire's Kiss, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call — New Orleans, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, The Wicker Man (2006), and even the recent Color Out of Space need to be in the conversation.
Nevertheless, Prisoners of the Ghostland is an undeniably wacky experience, filled with stunning sets, lavish costume designs, and oddball characters. It fits quite nicely in Cage's cannon of crazy movies — which is an ever-growing list of titles.
As you can guess, Nicolas Cage and Sion Sono enjoyed working with each other, as they'll be teaming up again soon for another project. If this movie is already pretty wild and weird, who can imagine what deranged stuff we'll get in this next collaboration? I dunno about you, but I'm definitely excited to see what's in store for these two in the near future.
Shortly before its world premiere, Prisoners of the Ghostland was acquired by RLJE Films, which suggests that the movie will be released later this year. It has already earned its fair share of warm reviews, and it'll undoubtedly find an audience from diehard fans of the outlandish A-list movie star. No release date has been officially announced yet, though. But when that changes, we'll keep you posted.
Are you excited to see Prisoners of the Ghostland? What do you think is Nicolas Cage's wildest movie? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!
