There are some actors who are so distinctly talented and widely beloved that just attaching their name to a movie or TV show is typically enough to get audiences intrigued. Such an actor is the impeccable, Academy Award-winning Nicolas Cage, who has a number of projects on our upcoming 2024 movies schedule and beyond that you should certainly keep your eye on. With that in mind, let’s took a closer look at the upcoming Nicolas Cage movies we have to look forward to.

Longlegs (July 12, 2024)

Some of Nicolas Cage’s most definitive roles have been bad guys, most notably Castor Troy in John Woo’s 1997 action movie favorite, Face/Off. However, fans might end up looking back on that unpredictable, certifiably insane terrorist differently when they see the actor’s role in the upcoming horror movie, Longlegs.

From writer and director Oz Perkins (director of 2020’s Gretel & Hansel, but naturally born into horror royalty as the son of Psycho’s Anthony Perkins), the thriller stars Cage in the title role — an elusive, deranged serial killer being trailed by recent FBI recruit, Agent Lee Harker (Scream Queen Maika Monroe), whose investigation uncovers unsettling ties to the occult. With a current score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, Longlegs is already being called one of the best horror movies of the year.

The Carpenter's Son (TBD)

Having become something of a Scream King in his own right lately — with lead roles in thrillers like the brutal 2018 revenge movie, Mandy, or the somewhat overlooked horror film from 2022, Willy’s Wonderland — It is not too surprising to learn that Cage has more than one horror film in the works. In May 2024, Deadline reported that he is set to star in The Carpenter’s Son, which bears a particularly intriguing concept: a dark reinterpretation of Jesus’ childhood.

Cage stars as a carpenter living covertly with his family in Roman Egypt, where his adoptive son (played by Noah Jupe), under another mysterious child’s influence, begins to exhibit rebellious behaviors and signs of possessing otherworldly abilities. Grammy-nominated singer and actor FKA Twigs and Dune Part Two star Souheila Yacoub also star in the film from Egyptian-American writer and director Lofty Nathan, which is set to shoot in summer 2024.

The Gunslingers (TBD)

It was not until 2022 when Cage made his first contribution to the traditional Western genre with Butcher’s Crossing before leading another called The Old Way just a year later. In May 2024, Variety reported that the actor’s third Western, The Gunslingers, is now in post-production.

Cage stars in the supporting role of a “mad genius” named Ben who finds himself in a dusty town called Redemption with a former gunfighter named Thomas Keller (Stephen Dorff), who is seeking just that (“redemption”), when they cross paths with a gang of outlaws who cause Thomas to confront his violent past. Brian Skiba writes and directs The Gunslingers, which also stars Heather Graham — known for her breakout role in Boogie Nights — and Saw movies star Costas Mandylor.

Lords Of War (TBD)

Cage has starred in a few sequels in his day — namely follow-ups to Disney’s fortune-hunting advenure National Treasure, the Marvel Comics-based fantasy Ghost Rider, and Dreamworks’s prehistoric animated comedy The Croods. The next “second chapter” on the actor’s resume is a somewhat unlikely choice: a sequel to the 2005 crime drama, Lord of War.

Titled Lords of War, the new film will see Cage reprise his role as illegal arms dealer Yuri Orlov, who discovers that he has a son (played by Bill Skarsgård) who wants to follow in his footsteps — not as a partner, but as a rival. Deadline reports that BlacKkKlansman’s Laura Harrier has an undisclosed part in the sequel, which Lord of War’s original writer and director Andrew Niccol is returning to pen and helm for Vendôme Pictures.

The Prince (TBD)

Nicolas Cage won an Academy Award for his performance in 1994’s Leaving Las Vegas as a man struggling with his alcoholism. According to Deadline, addiction will also play into the upcoming drama The Prince, which he is set to star in opposite Scott Haze, who leads the cast as a man who faces many a challenge while navigating a “high-stakes world of power, pleasure, and pain” on the road to recovery.

The film is penned by Pulitzer Prize winner and Oscar nominee David Mamet, who is believed to have referred to this project when speaking to podcast host Andrew Klavan about a movie he was writing that was inspired by the life of Hunter Biden — the son of President Joe Biden, whose own struggles with addiction and legal troubles have been widely discussed in recent years. Cameron Van Hoy directs The Prince, which entered production in June and also stars J.K. Simmons, Giancarlo Esposito, and Andy Garcia.

The Surfer (TBD)

Those who love to see Cage go ballistic on screen in bizarre and challenging roles may find exactly what they are looking for with The Surfer. According to Variety’s review of the film, Cage stars as the title character — a man facing a mid-life crisis that only worsens after his surfboard is taken from him and his attempts to retrieve it lead him down a puzzling slippery-slope of reality-questioning paranoia.

From director Lorcan Finnegan of Vivarium fame and writer Thomas Martin, the psychological thriller premiered at the Cannes Film Festival as its official “midnight movie” selection in May 2024, as Variety also reported. Currently, The Surfer does not have an official release date.

Other Upcoming Nicolas Cage Projects

Even the big screen is not enough for a movie star like Nicolas Cage, who also has small screen projects to take note of.

Noir (TBD)

Considering how his stage name was inspired by Marvel superhero Luke Cage, it is no surprise that Nicolas Cage is a comic book lover and has had the opportunity to bring a few to life in his career — such as his cameo in The Flash as the version of Superman he was cast to play in an unfinished film. However, one of his most acclaimed comic book characters is Spider-Man Noir — an old-school detective-style version of Peter Parker’s alter ego he voiced in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse whom he is set to reprise, but not on the big screen.

Variety reports that Amazon Studios is working on a live-action series simply called Noir, which will see Cage play the titular webslinger and private investigator in the 1930s. There is no word yet if the actor will also return to the role in animated form in the upcoming superhero movie, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.

Considering how busy Nicolas Cage likes to keep himself, there are bound to be more projects featuring the famed actor to look forward to. Therefore, we are destined to spend quite a lot of time in the “cage,” and we would not have it any other way.