News
Nicolas Cage Risks Bad Boy Perils
By Robert Marich
Nov. 19, 2009 – Nicolas Cage seems on the brink of a career comedown.
Cage enjoyed artistic acclaim and a good reputation as an up-and-comer. But unpaid taxes and excessive spending tarnish the image of the star of Disney’s National Treasure family adventure films who also is a UN Goodwill Ambassador on Drugs & Crime.
He seems to have become a magnet for unflattering press coverage. A New York Post article says that Cage is in Kenya visiting imprisoned Somali pirates, which he says will enable him to “make some sense and talk about it when I go back to the States.” There’s an air of ridicule in the story as Cage seems to strain for self-importance.
Bad publicity will cost in Hollywood, as job offers dry up. Producers figure the press will beat up on off-screen misconduct and nobody wants to risk a movie’s box office on extraneous controversies. The usual outcome is that bad boy talent will still get some work, but on smaller films at reduced salaries.
It could be argued that such a downshift has already hit Cage’s career. The distributor of his latest film is First Look – a smallish indie – for Cage starrer Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans, which opens this weekend to mixed reviews and low box office expectations.
Of course, sometimes bad publicity can create moviegoer interest. But Hollywood powerbrokers know the fall out is unpredictable when publicity goes off message. And the bigger the name, the more talent has to lose by being knocked off a pedestal.
The list of movie talent who tarnish images with self-inflicted career wounds includes the following:
+ Two homes owned by Cage in New Orleans were foreclosed by lenders for non-payment. In a lawsuit, Cage’s former business manager alleges that the actor refused to cut back from a $30 million-a-year extravagant lifestyle. It’ll be hard for fans to have sympathy for someone who gets $12 million a film but owes $6 million in back taxes.
+ Wesley Snipes has been prosecuted in tax court for not paying taxes on the far-out excuse income tax is unconstitutional.
+ Oscar winner Russell Crowe ends up in the tabloids for temper outbursts with higher ups on films and service personnel, though his career stays at a high level.
+ The bizarre personal life of Woody Allen lowered his status from serious filmmaker to butt of jokes and gossip column fodder.
+ An on-set tirade by Christian Bale spurred unwanted press reports that threatened to distract the opening of his Terminator Salvation, though the film ultimately did not seem hurt. Bale earlier was arrested in a family incident, though charges were ultimately dismissed.
+ Likeable Jamie Foxx quickly apologized for rude comments about Miley Cyrus.
Don’t think that moviegoers notice? Check out the Reader Comments found below the New York Post story (first link below). The fourth comment says: “The (Cage financial) lawsuit says that in 2007 Cage bought three houses for $33 million; 22 cars, including nine Rolls-Royces; and 47 works of art. By 2008, he owned 15 houses around the world, four yachts, an island in the Bahamas and a Gulfstream jet. And then he sat with George Clooney and Al Gore at the Academy Awards and said that people should be forced to car pool to combat Global Warming.”
Ouch!
Film stars may feel they are bullet proof, but in fact have been laid low by disappointing box office. There’s a noticeable trend this year of star vehicles flopping while the big hits are based on toy or comics with minimal star power. The recent flops or disappointments include Bruce Willis sci-fi film Surrogates, Will Ferrell comedy Land of the Lost, Jack Black comedy Year One and Johnny Depp drama Public Enemies.
For full text, click link below:
www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/warned_nic_cage_to_cool_it_dTgQtdAwOKv6CaFIh6ivVI
www.marketingmovies.net/news/comcics-toy-brands-are-hwoods-new-stars/