UPDATED: Nicolas Cage has ultimately had a change of heart regarding Trespass, the Joel Schumacher-directed Millennium Films picture that the star departed a few days ago.
Deadline reports that Cage’s CAA reps have informed the production that he will star and in fact will return to the original role for which he was slated as Nicole Kidman’s husband (after having shifted parts to take on the role of the head kidnapper in the film).
Millennium has pushed its start date from August 16 to August 30.
Although it was not immediately clear why Cage changed his mind, Deadline’s Mike Fleming opines that the uncertainty over which character to play, coupled with the arduous promotional campaign on The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, left him fried.
EARLIER: Nicolas Cage has taken leave from Joel Schumacher‘s Millennium Films drama Trespass, reports Deadline, just two weeks away from an August production start in Louisiana. Cage is said to have abruptly backed out of the film late last week and then left on vacation.
Cage had been locked into a $7 million deal to costar with Nicole Kidman in the drama. Per Deadline, Kidman plays half of a married couple taken hostage by thieves looking for an easy payday. Cage at first was going to play the husband, but within the last two weeks he switched and decided to play the leader of the kidnappers. Millennium offered the husband role to Liev Schreiber, who Deadline says has yet to accept.
No reasons were given for Cage’s departure, although Deadline says some feel the actor may just be burned out from working on so many movies, and being the centerpiece of a long Disney movie launch campaign with the release of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
Cage has been a steady performer for Millennium Films’ Avi Lerner, having starred in Wicker Man, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans and the upcoming Drive Angry, notes Deadline. The actor also previously worked with Schumacher on 8MM.
Millennium will forge ahead, intent on keeping its start date and pending the casting of a suitable replacement.
