The next chapter of Nicolas Cageโs career renaissance involves a reunion with director Andrew Niccol for Lord of War 2 (official title: Lords of War).
According to Variety, the sequel will once again follow Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage), the worldโs most notorious gunrunner, who discovers the existence of his son Anton (Bill Skarsgard). Anton is striking out on his own by amassing a mercenary army to fight Americaโs Middle East conflicts, and yesโฆ it would appear as though heโs a chip off the old uranium block.
What ensues is an โintergenerational bitter rivalryโ that pits father against son.
โThere is so much more to explore with these characters,โ explained Andrew Niccol.
โPlato said it best: โOnly the dead have seen the end of war.โ Iโm looking forward to spending more time in the company of the charming devil that is Yuri Orlov and now his illegitimate son โ who turns out to not be legitimate in any way.โ
Philippe Rousselet of Vendรดme Group, the production company backing this project, added: โThe Lord of War world has no shortage of ammunition in the possibilities of stories we can tell, and we are very excited to tell yet another one that follows Yuri and Antonโs dangerous journey.โ
Given how Lord of War ranks among the upper echelons of S-tier Cage flicks โ right next to the Raising Arizona, Adaptation, Leaving Las Vegas, Pig, The Rock, Con Air, and Face/Off (which is also on track to receive a long-awaited sequel) โ there are certainly high hopes for Lords of War. And more than a few concerns about tarnishing the legacy of the first film.
But with the unwavering dedication of the Cageman himself and the return of Andrew Niccol, who famously wrote and directed Gattaca and penned The Truman Show, we think itโs in safe hands. Despite the fact that both artists have taken a few career missteps in the years since Lord of War.
Lord of War 2 starring Nicolas Cage and Bill Skarsgard was initially scheduled to begin principal photography sometime in late 2023 with the expectation of hitting cinemas sometime in late 2024. But thatโs obviously since changed.
โIt looks like itโs happening next year [referring to 2025],โ said Skarsgard during an appearance on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast, who heaped praise on the โlegendโ that is Nic Cage.
โItโs a great script and I think itโll be a fun one. The character, heโs a charismatic f**king a**hole. And you saw the first oneโฆ Itโs so cynical and so satirical and bleak and like everyoneโs terrible, and itโs also kind of a dark comedy. I like that. I like when you laugh at terrible people. So I think thatโll be a fun one.โ
Elsewhere, Cage echoed similar sentiments about the quality of the screenplay: โI can tell you that the Lords of War script, which Iโm very much supporting and is fascinating from an Arthurian, almost kind of storytelling aspect, where the son becomes the lead gunrunner. And itโs complex.โ
โI like that about Andrew Nichol and his scripts and his movies, that theyโre always very complex and well thought out and kind of intellectual, which is what he is. An intellectual. And so, yeah, I think that one is exciting and could very well happen.โ
Relive the glory of the original with the trailer below.
