Prisoners of the Ghostland, the latest from filmmaker Sion Sono, is headed to this year’s Sundance Film Festival in a few days – and now it’s found distribution, too. RLJE Films has snapped-up the US rights to the movie, which stars human meme Nicolas Cage as a bank robber. When the project was first announced, Cage himself said: “It might be the wildest movie I’ve ever made, and that’s saying something.” RLJE has distributed recent Cage titles like Mandy and Color Out of Space.

The news comes directly from RLJE Films, with Chief Acquisitions Officer Mark War saying in a statement: “We’re excited to once again work with Nicolas Cage on a highly-anticipated film directed by the celebrated Japanese filmmaker Sion Sono. Following the success of Mandy and Color Out of Space, Prisoners of the Ghostland is already receiving great buzz and we cannot wait for audiences to see it at Sundance.”

In addition to Cage, the film features Sofia Boutella (The Mummy), Nick Cassavetes (Face/Off), Bill Moseley (Texas Chainsaw Franchise), Tak Sakaguchi (Tokyo Tribe), and Yuzuka Nakaya (The Forest of Love). Aaron Hendry and Rexa Sixo Safai (Western Wonderland) wrote the script. Prisoners of the Ghostland “is set in the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town where a ruthless bank robber (Cage) is sprung from jail by wealthy warlord The Governor (Moseley), whose adopted granddaughter Bernice (Boutella) has gone missing. The Governor offers the prisoner his freedom in exchange for retrieving the runaway. Strapped into a leather suit that will self-destruct within three days, the bandit sets off on a journey to find the young woman—and his own path to redemption.”

The movie was first announced back in 2018, and Cage called the script “unlike anything” he’d ever read before. Cage added:

“I’m thrilled about it! It’s unlike anything I’ve ever read before. It might be the wildest movie I’ve ever made, and that’s saying something. It’s out there. I wear a skintight black leather jumpsuit with grenades attached to different body parts, and if I don’t rescue the governor’s daughter from this state line where they’re all ghosts and bring her back they’re gonna blow me up. It’s just crazy. It’s way out there.”

I know it’s become standard procedure for some to roll their eyes at Cage and his continuing wackiness, but I remain a big fan of all his crazy work. Can he go extremely overboard sometimes? Absolutely – but that’s part of the fun. And this sounds like exactly the right material for him to sink his teeth into. I can’t wait to see it.

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